CSA goes 2.4 kilometers deep for Barbados survey campaign

U.S.-based marine environmental consulting firm CSA Ocean Sciences has completed a two-year environmental baseline survey (EBS) at depths of up to 2,400 meters in waters offshore southeast Barbados.

Scientists from CSA’s local Trinidad and Tobago office conducted a series of EBSs in the Carlisle Bay Block and Bimshire Block during the wet and dry season in 2019 and 2021, respectively, to assess temporal variability of environmental parameters.

The survey campaign, designed to characterize the existing physical, chemical, and biological marine resources within a study area of approximately 5,000 km², included the collection of hydrographic profile data to depths of 2,000 meters, sediment and water samples, air quality data, characterization of plankton, and high-definition imagery to help document the existing condition of the local seabed environment.

The company deployed two “l”-shaped moorings within the study area, one in each block, to measure baseline current data within the water column at depths of approximately 2,000 meters.

The moorings incorporated two 55-kHz Nortek Signature 55 Acoustic Doppler Current Profilers (ADCPs), flotation buoys, dual acoustic releases, and weights.

The ADCPs, deployed from November 2019 through April 2021, captured hydroacoustic data from depths not previously achieved in the region, CSA said.

“Despite the operational challenges presented by the COVID-19 pandemic, CSA’s field team and scientists were able to plan, execute, and demobilize a series of multidisciplinary Environmental Baseline Surveys on time and on budget,” said Candice Leung Chee, CEO of CSA Ocean Sciences (Trinidad) Ltd.

“This achievement is not only representative of the local CSA team’s resolution and professionalism, but was also made possible thanks to the our extensive pool of deepwater sampling and surveying equipment, based in Trinidad, available for rapid mobilization in the region and deployment at record depths.”