First High‐Resolution Benthic Habitat Map From the Greenland Shelf (Disko Bay Pilot Study)

A healthy ocean where marine habitats and ecosystems are mapped and protected is one of the UN's Sustainable Development Goals to sustainably use marine resources. Our study presents the first high‐resolution benthic habitat map from Greenland integrating analyses of multibeam bathymetry and backscatter data, and ground‐truth data including video sled, drop camera and day grab. The pilot area of 30 × 20 km is located on the continental shelf in central Disko Bay, West Greenland and all data were collected in a single, 10‐day survey. Multibeam bathymetry data were gridded to a 10 × 10 m resolution, whereas backscatter mosaic was built from a 1 × 1 m grid cell to obtain higher resolution manifestation of seafloor properties. Ground‐truth data consisted of 14 video transects, 17 drop camera deployments, and 17 sediment samples. Our results were verified with the published shallow seismic and vibrocore data from the Disko Bay region to link the geological background with the sedimentary environment. We distinguished five physical habitats in the area, based on the distribution of sediment types, water depth with general water masses and morphology. In addition, numerous gas seeps alongside pockmarks were observed in the area, as well as recent iceberg ploughmarks. The identified habitats were associated with two basic communities of benthic fauna, linked primarily to the distribution of sediments and representing hard bottom habitats (sessile fauna) and soft bottom habitats (shrimp/polychaetes). Our study is the first step toward mapping the entire seafloor of Disko Bay to provide a scientific context for the management of seafloor and marine resources. Plain Language Summary Distribution of benthic habitats is an important element in understanding the function and services of the marine ecosystems. A well‐founded knowledge of the marine bio environment is crucial for sustainable use of marine resources and Greenland economy is highly dependent on marine resources. Our pilot study presents a pioneer benthic habitat map from glaciated shelf of central West Greenland, Disko Bay. We chose a small area of 600 km2 in a c. 30 × 20 km box which is characterized by a complex hydrography, geodiversity and rich marine biodiversity including rare observations of Vulnerable Marine Ecosystem indicator species. This area was mapped in high‐resolution with multibeam echo sounder and ground‐truth stations using underwater imagery and physical samples. Five benthic habitats we