North-East Faroe Shetland Channel NCMPA

North-East Faroe Shetland Channel Nature Conservation Marine Protected Area (NCMPA) is the other site JNCC and Marine Scotland Science are visiting on the upcoming survey.

Designated in 2014, North-East Faroe Shetland Channel is the largest NCMPA in UK waters, stretching from 330m to over 2,000m deep. The focus of this survey are the deep-sea sponges, known to thrive in the nutrient rich 400-600m waters.

Up to 50 different species of Deep-sea sponges live in this channel, providing shelter for a large range of small sea life and a perch for animals that filter food from passing currents.

Probes test temperature and how salty the water is (salinity) to allow the team to paint a better picture of where these deep-sea sponges live. Live video footage and images add to this picture allowing us to identify the sponges. 

The main aim of this survey is to complete Type One monitoring, this is where a robust dataset is collected which can be used to compare this environment now, to how it is in the future.

To find out more information about North-East Faroe Shetland Channel, check out the JNCC Site Information Centre

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