NH-Jeffrey's+Ledge


 * =Birding in New Hampshire=

Rockingham County
=Jeffrey's Ledge (New Hampshire)=

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Jeffrey's Ledge (New Hampshire)
Coordinates: 42.9222405, -70.52948 eBird links: Hotspot map View details Recent visits My eBird links: Location life list Submit data

About Jeffrey's Ledge
Jeffreys Ledge, a large glacial remnant, is located ~35 km off the New Hampshire coast. It is a long (60 km), linear bank extending from Cape Ann, Massachusetts to Cape Elizabeth, Maine. Typical of glaciated features, the shallower regions of Jeffreys Ledge (~50-75 m) are composed of coarse sediments (mostly gravels with numerous cobble and boulder fields). Adjacent to Jeffreys Ledge are muddy basins that are over 200 meters in depth.

Historically, Jeffreys Ledge has been an important fishing ground of the Gulf of Maine with high yields of cod, haddock, hake, and flounder. However, in 1998, the Western Gulf Of Maine Closure Area was established by New England Fisheries Management Council, closing a large area of Jeffreys Ledge to ground fishing in hopes of restoring stocks.

In 2002, the University of New Hampshire initiated an interdisciplinary study of Jeffreys Ledge in order to better understand the physical and biological processes influencing this important ecosystem and to evaluate the effects of the closure. Our particular role in this study has been to help characterize the bottom habitats and to develop high-resolution seafloor maps using videography and bottom samples (along with acoustic surveys conducted by the UNH CCOM). To date, we have taken video of the bottom at 159 stations and bottom samples at 149 sites in a 10 by 15-mile area. Our camera system (Hubbard Camera) is composed of a video camera mounted on a frame with synchronized strobe lights and an integrated positioning system (GPS). We quantified features such as bottom type, burrows, tracks and trails, and epifauna (e.g., quahogs, sea scallops, anemones, sea stars, shrimp, brachiopods, and sponges — see examples of images). The results of the research are synthesized in GIS environments. From Jeffrey's Ledge webpage

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media type="custom" key="29307899" || L569900 US US-NH US-NH-015 42.9222405 -70.52948 Jeffrey's Ledge (New Hampshire)