Mapping Benthic substrate and macroinvertebrates along the Northwest Atlantic Ocean Continental Shelf with Underwater video surveys

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Substrate is fundamental to the designation of Marine Protected Areas, Habitat Area of Particular Concern, and Essential Fish Habitat. We employed a centric, systematic underwater video survey of benthic substrates including sand, granule/pebble, cobble, boulder, and macroinvertebrates. We mapped the distribution of benthic substrates and macroinvertebrates using georeferenced video samples covering 60,000 km2 of sea floor in waters 20 to 200mdeep.