2002 The Marine Conservation Society - Seasearch, Various locations in Dorset, Diver observations and detailed survey records

Seasearch survey of Dorset using mostly amateur recorders. Records subsequently validated by an expert post-survey assessor and biotopes assigned according to the MNCR 04.05 key. Seasearch is a marine habitat and species recording project for recreational SCUBA divers in the UK. The main aim of these surveys is to gather information on the marine habitats and species surrounding the UK coast, which will assist with their known extent and distribution, and ultimately contribute towards their conservation. Seasearch is co-ordinated nationally by the Marine Conservation Society. Dorset Seasearch has been active since 1995. Original survey sheets are held by Dorset Wildlife Trust, with copies held at Dorset Environmental Records Centre. Please note: All of these Seasearch records were originally input into the old Dorset database and were converted over to Marine Recorder v2 in April 2003. The old Dorset database only stored locations as Eastings and Northings values despite entries being made as Lat/Longs. The result is that all these Seasearch records have a Coordinate system of OS ref by default, even though the original paperwork recorded them as Lat/Longs. No accuracy has been lost for the OSGB36 Lat/Longs, as these allegedly translate directly. However, the surveys that used WGS84 Lat/Longs will have a small associated error, so where possible these locations have been re-entered with their original Lat/Longs. Where the Lat/Long datum has not been stated, these records have not been changed as the small error arising from the conversion is believed to be less than the error (~100m) between todays difference between OSGB36 and WGS84 Lat/Longs and the ~100m accuracy error before selective availability was turned off. Please use the Derived from field on the survey event screen to clarify how the location was recorded in the field.