Benthic Habitats of West Greenland - Images

Survey vessel M/T Paamiut in Nuuk, Greenland. Vessel is used by Greenland Institute of Natural Resources for annual stock assessment surveys of the Northern Shrimp. ZSL use the ship at night to take seabed images with a drop camera.Deploying the drop camera on the M/T Paamiut. The camera is lowered over the side of the ship. When it touches the bottom the camera is triggered and a photo is taken of the seabed.Seabed image from the continental shelf of the West coast of Greenland. This image contains a large pink soft coral from the family Nephtheidae.Starfish and anemoneSome delicate seabed habitats are sensitive to disturbance. Fragile frameworks created by bryozoans, corals and sponges can be damaged or destroyed by activities such as trawling. This was a serendipitous photograph taken when the camera accidentally triggered whilst flipped onto its side. It shows coral garden habitat on the continental shelf of West Greenland.These sea cucumbers (Holothurians) bury themselves in the sand and mud. We were lucky to catch this one above ground. The Northern Shrimp (Pandalus borealis) on the seabed in Western Greenland. Researchers at ZSL examine these images in order to identify and label all of the animals present.We can see more than a hundred animals in this image of the seabed