Videos and still images of the seabed from the 2016 survey of the western side of St. Vincent island in the Caribbean

As part of the Commonwealth Marine Economies Programme (CMEP) Cefas collected 102 drop camera video tows of the seabed off the west coast of St. Vincent Island in the country of St. Vincent and the Grenadines in 2016. These samples were to characterise the benthic fauna within the area and support the creation of benthic habitat maps. The videos and still images were acquired using a lightweight drop camera frame with a SubC camera, two lasers for scaling images and additional lighting for real colour images of the seabed. The drop camera frame was lowered to the seabed by hand from a vessel, with the video monitored to maintain a consistent height above the seabed. Tows were 15 minutes long with the vessel drifting in neutral so the distance covered in each tow varied. Sample depths ranged from 5-60 m and covered a range of habitats including bare sediment, seagrass, and coral and sponge dominated reefs. Still images were acquired every minute at a point when the seabed was clearly in focus.