A new 'countryside' map of UK seas - Natural England (1 Viewer)

Chris Monk said:

http://www.naturalengland.org.uk/press/releases2007/070207.htm

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Hi Chris thats realy fasinating. I cant wait to get a look through I must go and find some one to help me load it on the box .Good post cheers for that


Daf

Sorry Chris, I assure you I am not a stalker. Just a cheeky robin following a gardener around; and you do turn up some tasty titbits.

Though a lot of this goes right over my head, there is still a lot of interesting data made very accessible here.

Hello Daf. Just click on the "Go to interactive web based mapping system" at centre bottom of the SeaMap page and select a base map from below "Launch WebGIS". Seabed landscapes is a nice colorful start.

Chris you are my new google. Thanks I love maps.

sweet as Rosinante cheers for that

rozinante said:

Sorry Chris, I assure you I am not a stalker. Just a cheeky robin following a gardener around; and you do turn up some tasty titbits.

Though a lot of this goes right over my head, there is still a lot of interesting data made very accessible here.

Hello Daf. Just click on the "Go to interactive web based mapping system" at centre bottom of the SeaMap page and select a base map from below "Launch WebGIS". Seabed landscapes is a nice colorful start.

Chris you are my new google. Thanks I love maps.

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That's OK I didn't feel I was being stalked!

All the best,
Chris

Before y'all wax poetic about what a great asset this is, keep in mind how maps of the seabed deeper than a few meters are obtained: Through acoustics (sonar, airgun blasts, etc.). Very detrimental to living organisms nearby at the time of the surveying, especially marine mammals and fish. And part of the protocols for "continual monitoring" of the mapped area will involve continual acoustic surveying.

I've also found that such mapping of close-shore habitats, initially couched as a "conservation" tool, can be a precursor to oil/gas leases being let in the surveyed area.

Can't help but also wonder if some of the whale/dolphin deaths and strandings reported over the past couple years in the UK might not have been related to the surveying efforts?

Katy Penland said:

Through acoustics (sonar, airgun blasts, etc.). Very detrimental to living organisms nearby at the time of the surveying, especially marine mammals and fish. And part of the protocols for "continual monitoring" of the mapped area will involve continual acoustic surveying.

I've also found that such mapping of close-shore habitats, initially couched as a "conservation" tool, can be a precursor to oil/gas leases being let in the surveyed area.

Can't help but also wonder if some of the whale/dolphin deaths and strandings reported over the past couple years in the UK might not have been related to the surveying efforts?

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Thanks for pointing that out Katy, a reminder that we should not immediately take everything at face value.

I will try to find out some more how the data was collected. I suspect though that in this case there should be enough conservation bodies involved to ensure invasive or destructive techniques would not be tolerated.

"Funding partners and members of the Project Steering Group, as well as the JNCC, are ,:-

Defra, Scottish Executive, Office of the Deputy Prime Minister (ODPM), Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), Crown Estate, Countryside Council for Wales, Natural England (formally English Nature), WWF-UK, and the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB). The project has also received European Regional Development Funding through the INTERREG III B Community Initiative, as part of the Mapping European Seabed Habitats project."