Habitat point records from 1987 University of Dundee Inganess Bay and Wideford Burn sublittoral survey

The grab survey showed that at the time Inganess Bay has very limited, largely wave-induced circulation with the central area of the bay being a depositing area where accumulation of additional material would be likely. This could lead to de-oxygenation of the sediment and water column with potentially damaging effects for any flora and fauna present. Looking at the Wideford Burn data it becomes obvious that the fish farm here is contributing 8-10 times more material than the natural content of the burn. Monitoring of the communities present will be a good indicator of how the fish farm effect the local area. Samples except from stations 1 & 2 were dominated by ampeliscid amphipods andpredatory polychaetes such as Lumbriconereis sp, Nephtys sp and Phyllodoce sp. There were relatively few tube dwellers and deposit feeders although the deposit feeder Ampharete sp was present in deeper stations. The samples were very similar for the most part but there was a tendency for an increase in diversity with depth. The communities were those of a muddy-sand environment but are unlike any of those recorded previously from Orcadian waters. Stations 17-20 showed a significantly greater diversity. These characteristics suggest that the bottom at present is organically-rich but at acceptable levels for the development of quite diverse communities: however, the limited water circulation may mean that the fauna could become radically altered by the addition of relatively small quantities of organic matter.