Home > Explore Data & Reports > Benthic habitats of Fish Bay, Coral Bay and the St. Thomas East End Reserve

Citation:

Costa, B.M., M.S. Kendall, K. Edwards, G. Kagesten, and T.A. Battista. 2013. Benthic habitats of Fish Bay, Coral Bay and the St. Thomas East End Reserve. NOAA Technical Memorandum NOS NCCOS 175. Silver Spring, MD. 68 pp.

Data/Report Type:

NOAA Technical Memorandum

Description

This report describes the development and assessment of shallow (0-40 m) benthic habitat maps for Fish Bay, Coral Bay and the St. Thomas East End Reserve (STEER) in the U.S. Virgin Islands. The objective of this effort, conducted by NOAA's National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science in partnership with the Nature Conservancy (TNC), the U.S. National Park Service (NPS) and the Virgin Islands Department of Planning and Natural Resources (DPNR), was to provide spatially-explicit information describing the benthic habitat types and live coral cover present in these three locations. This habitat information will support the development of local action strategies for coral reef conservation in each of these places, providing roadmaps to address key issues and remedy specific threats to coral reefs. The three habitat maps, generated using a combination of semi-automated classification and visual interpretation techniques, represent the first digital maps that describe nearly 100% of the seafloor in these areas. This effort also marks the first time that high resolution imagery describing seafloor depth was collected in these locations.

Note to readers with disabilities: Some scientific publications linked from this website may not conform to Section 508 accessibility standards due to the complexity of the information being presented. If you need assistance accessing this electronic content, please contact the lead/corresponding author, Primary Contact, or nccos.webcontent@noaa.gov.

Explore Similar Data/Reports

About NCCOS

NCCOS delivers ecosystem science solutions for stewardship of the nation’s ocean and coastal resources to sustain thriving coastal communities and economies.

Stay Connected

Sign up for our quarterly newsletter or view our archives.

NCCOS Multimedia

Visit our new NCCOS Multimedia Gallery. 

Follow us on Social

Listen to our Podcast

Check out our new podcast "Coastal Conversations"