Halifax Harbour Nearshore Benthic Habitat Survey with Video and Sonar

A 2021 survey used a novel towfish integrating sidescan sonar, video, and echosounder to map the nearshore seabed from the shoreline to 10 meters depth across Bedford Basin, Inner Harbour, and Outer Harbour. The resulting geospatial data distinguishes zones by substrate type, benthic invertebrates, and macrophyte canopy. The data is intended to support management questions like habitat compensation project placement.

Use Cases

• Analyze substrate type, benthic invertebrates, and macrophyte canopy data to classify and compare the three distinct harbour zones (Bedford Basin, Inner Harbour, Outer Harbour).
• Use sidescan sonar and echosounder data in a GIS to model benthic habitat suitability for marine species.
• Compare video and sonar data to ground-truth echosounder readings and assess shoreline hardening features in the Inner Harbour.
• Map the distribution of macrophyte canopy from survey data to identify areas of high biodiversity in the Outer Harbour.

Strengths

• Survey integrates multiple sensor types (video, sidescan sonar, echosounder) for ground-truthing.
• Data covers a defined nearshore transect from shoreline to 10m depth across three distinct harbour zones.
• Results are georeferenced and available in a GIS-ready format (FGDB/GDB, ESRI REST).

Limitations

• Sample data and specific column/row counts are unavailable, limiting pre-download assessment of structure.
• The single survey from 2021 provides a snapshot; temporal analysis requires future surveys for comparison.
• Geographic scope is limited to the nearshore area of Halifax Harbour.

Provenance

Source

Coastal Ecosystems Science Division, Fisheries and Oceans Canada.

Collection Method

Field survey using a custom towfish equipped with sidescan sonar, video hardware, and an echosounder.

Time Range

Survey conducted circa 2021.

Freshness

Data was published in September 2021 and last updated in the catalog on March 24, 2026.

Geography

Nearshore Halifax Harbour, Nova Scotia, Canada, including Bedford Basin, Inner Harbour, and Outer Harbour.