Shallow-Water Zonation of Sea-Loch Benthos and Its Relation to Hydrographic and Other Physical Features

Abstract

Surveys of marine benthic distributions are usually performed by sampling from a vessel capable of handling the heavy sampling devices necessary. Because of the inability of such vessels to work in very shallow water or close to the shore the area just beyond the intertidal zone is inaccessible to investigation except by a special vessel (e.g. Mclntyre & Eleftheriou, 1968) or by using diving techniques (e.g. Hughes & Thomas, 1971). This has created a gap in our knowledge of this area, which may be of some importance in reflecting adaptation to effects of land on sea which are not complicated by the effects of tidal exposure.