Seabed Survey: Boulder – Heather Island

In temperate environments, boulders and rocks are important hard substrates for a number of sessile organisms, especially in sedimentary areas. In addition to this, they provide niches and habitats for commercially important species such as lobster and crab. Photogrammetric modelling can be used to calculate the size and depth of such niches. This data, along with a larger scale distribution of hard substrate, can be factored into the habitat availability of an area. 

Boulders and rocks can also complicate the deployment of undersea structures and pipelines, and quantifying their abundance is a factor in where to progress such works.