Transects 2016

Dr. Konstantinos Douna’s sketch
Dr. Konstantinos Douna’s sketch

As an initial systematic documentation of the seahorse population in Stratoni, Dr. Konstantinos Dounas, organized the following survey plan. “The methodology is a 100 meter metric tape transect, at five sampling stations, where each of the five stations will consist of three parallel traverses of a hundred meters at three consecutive depths. The traverses will be georeferenced and plotted on a bathymetric chart. Then, with the help of surveying engineers and a precision geodetic station, labeled buoys will be deployed on each line eg. A1 with A1.1. A pair of divers begins the survey at the start of each route e.g. in A1 and swim side by side surveying both sides, at a maximum distance of 5 meters. The divers video and photograph anything that pertains to the research, noting down the position and distance from the tape measure.

Bythometric Diagram with georeferenced transects Bythometric Diagram with georeferenced transects

Large scale sampling (large scale sampling – transects)
• 5 sampling stations (A, B, C, D, E)
• Three sections parallel to the shoreline will be carried out at each station
• A1, A2, A3 – B1, B2, B3 – C1, C2, C3 – D1, D2, D3 – E1, E2, E3 / 100m transect line for each
• Transect depth: A1: -5 meters, A2: -7.5 meters, A3: -10 meters, B1: -5 meters, B2: -7.5 meters, etc.
• Visual census survey in each cross-section with counts of all individuals and parallel video recording (adult-juveniles)

The marked buoys The marked buoys

Sampling target
1. To spatially determine the distribution areas of the «Hippocampus guttulatus and Hippocampus hippocampus, populations.
2. Identify the environmental parameters that may cause the spatial distribution of the species in the area.

All sampling results are listed in the survey log.

Deployment of the buoys using a topographic instrument Deployment of the buoys using a topographic instrument

The divers with the transect tapes The divers with the transect tapes Preparing the buoys Preparing the buoys The Stratoni coast and the sampling trails The Stratoni coast and the sampling trails