Plan-view photos, benthic grabs, and sediment-profile images: Using complementary techniques to assess response to seafloor disturbance.

A monitoring survey was conducted in July 2005 at the Rhode Island Sound Disposal Site (RISDS) as part of the Disposal Area Monitoring System (DAMOS) program. The survey included the collection of sediment-profile and plan-view images, and benthic biology grabs. Each of these techniques provides a different, yet complementary perspective on benthic community conditions. These complementary techniques aided in the assessment of the benthic recovery process within RISDS following the placement of dredged material from the Providence River and Harbor Maintenance Dredging Project (PRHMDP). Based on observed patterns of physical, chemical, and biological responses of seafloor environments to dredged material disposal activity it was expected that the benthic community within RISDS would be in an intermediate phase of recolonization (Stage II). Results of the 2005 RISDS survey indicated that in the six months since disposal activities at RISDS had concluded, the biological community at RISDS was recovering relatively rapidly and Stages II and III infauna were present throughout the region.