Near-seafloor drift transect video and high-resolution digital still imagery from a three-year survey in the Fundy Isles region of the lower, western Bay of Fundy

Funded under DFO's Marine Conservation Targets Program, this optical imagery benthic survey captured 73 drift-camera transects from September 21, 2022 to October 3, 2024 in the Fundy Isles region of the lower, western Bay of Fundy, New Brunswick, Canada. The survey area includes the 'Head Harbour/West Isles Archipelago/The Passages' Ecologically and Biologically Significant Area (ESBA, ~113 km2), the Wolves Islands and Grand Manan Island. High-resolution still images (n=5081) were taken periodically throughout each transect, while continuous high-definition downward- and forward-facing video (~30 hours of each) was collected simultaneously. Distance travelled and distance between still images (m) was calculated using ArcGIS tools. Field of view (FOV) was estimated by measuring the length and width of a subset of still images (n=863) in ImageJ2, using 10-cm lasers for scale. FOV was standardized for each reported altitude. Transects ranged from 133 m to 2.6 km in length (~47 km surveyed in total), collecting imagery continuously for 3 minutes to more than 1 hour at a time, surveying depths from 15 to 188 m below chart datum. Transect locations were selected based on unique bathymetric features, areas previously predicted to have high habitat suitability for vulnerable marine ecosystem species, as well as proposed areas for inclusion in the regional marine conservation network plan.

Additional information and imagery pertaining specifically to the 2022 datasets can be found at the following link in the Open Government Portal: https://open.canada.ca/data/en/dataset/8ea6c28a-3d6c-47ef-8cf7-56790ee0c7f5

Cite this data as: Lawton P, Teed L. Near-seafloor drift transect video and high-resolution digital still imagery from a three-year survey in the Fundy Isles region of the lower, western Bay of Fundy. Published November 2025. Coastal Ecosystems Science Division, Fisheries and Oceans Canada, St. Andrews, N.B.