December 3–16, 2021 surveys collected data on benthic habitats and fish communities in the West Cape York Marine Park and surrounding waters. The dataset includes 407 habitat survey sites and 42 baited remote underwater video (BRUV) deployment sites, summarized in two GIS shapefiles. The work was a collaboration between James Cook University's TropWATER, Charles Darwin University, the Torres Strait Regional Authority, and Indigenous Traditional Owner groups, funded by the Director of National Parks.
Use Cases
- Mapping benthic habitat distribution based on the 407 surveyed site locations.
- Analyzing fish community composition based on baited remote underwater video (BRUV) deployments at 42 sites.
- Assessing seagrass meadow health and diversity trends as described in the survey objectives.
- Supporting collaborative marine park management with Indigenous knowledge, as the survey involved Traditional Owners and rangers.
Strengths
- Includes 407 specific point locations for habitat surveys.
- Contains 42 specific point locations for fish surveys using BRUV deployments.
- Survey conducted over a defined period from December 3 to 16, 2021.
- Collaborative effort involving multiple research institutions and Indigenous groups.
Limitations
- Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
- Row count for underlying attribute data is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment.
- Description metadata is limited; actual data quality requires manual inspection after download.
Provenance
- Source
- Centre for Tropical Water & Aquatic Ecosystem Research (TropWATER), James Cook University, in collaboration with other institutions and Indigenous groups.
- Collection Method
- Field surveys using TropWATER-developed methods for benthic habitats and BRUV deployments for fish, with data entered into ArcGIS 10.8.
- Time Range
- Survey conducted December 3–16, 2021.
- Freshness
- Last updated 2026-07-13 12:15:39.851024; freshness should be verified.
- Geography
- West Cape York, Gulf of Carpentaria, Queensland, Australia, including the West Cape York Marine Park, southern Dugong Sanctuary, and Angkamuthi and Kaurareg Sea Country.