Bay-Scale Eelgrass Bed Assessment in New Brunswick Estuaries Using Towfish

Three northern New Brunswick estuaries—Bouctouche, Tabusintac, and Cocagne—were surveyed using a novel towfish package combining underwater video and sidescan sonar. The dataset includes maps of eelgrass cover, health (epiphyte load), and ancillary bottom features like algal growth and bacterial mats. The data was published in November 2017 by the Coastal Ecosystems Science Division of Fisheries and Oceans Canada.

Use Cases

• Map eelgrass distribution and health based on sidescan sonar and video-derived cover and epiphyte load data.
• Analyze correlations between eelgrass health and ancillary benthic features like algal growth or bacterial mats.
• Assess the effectiveness of the towfish method for remote sensing in turbid, shallow estuaries.
• Compare eelgrass bed status across different estuaries (e.g., Tabusintac, Cocagne, Bouctouche).

Strengths

• Data collected using a novel towfish method designed for bay-scale (tens of km) assessment in turbid water.
• Includes mapped features for eelgrass cover, health, and ancillary bottom characteristics.
• Method proved cost-effective and achieved sub-meter precision in real time.

Limitations

• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Row count and dataset size are unknown, which may limit suitability assessment.

Provenance

Source

Coastal Ecosystems Science Division, Fisheries and Oceans Canada

Collection Method

Data gathered via a towfish deployed along transects, equipped with underwater video, scaling lasers, sidescan sonar, and a transponder-based positioning system.

Time Range

Survey conducted prior to publication in November 2017.

Freshness

Last updated 2026-03-24 08:14:49.287669; freshness should be verified.

Geography

Three northern New Brunswick estuaries: Bouctouche, Tabusintac, and Cocagne.