GAIA Marine delivered an offshore environmental baseline sampling campaign in Victoria, collecting sediment, water-column and benthic visual data to support future offshore energy development planning and environmental assessment.
The campaign was designed to address gaps in existing seabed and environmental survey data for proposed offshore development activities. GAIA Marine was engaged to collect environmental samples across an offshore area of southern Victoria, with the original scope covering sediment samples, water samples and drop-camera visual records across a defined network of sampling sites. The field program was planned around weather, priority sampling locations, vessel operations and sample holding-time requirements.
The completed offshore campaign was executed between 3 and 11 June 2025 and included sediment sampling, near-seabed water sampling, in-situ vertical profiling using a multi-parameter sonde, and drop-camera deployments for benthic habitat characterisation. The field dataset included 20 discrete sediment sampling locations, 8 water sampling stations plus duplicates, and 21 drop-camera deployment sites. A total of 70 sampling attempts were made, with all required sites ultimately surveyed despite weather, substrate and equipment constraints.
GAIA’s role extended beyond field collection. The workflow included sample handling, containerisation, labelling, preservation, transport to laboratory, chain-of-custody documentation, coordination of analytical results, benthic image review and reporting. The scope included laboratory analysis for sediment parameters such as particle size, nutrients, metals, hydrocarbons, PAHs, PFAS and BTEX, and water-quality parameters including pH, dissolved oxygen, redox, nutrients, metals, hydrocarbons, PFAS and related analytes.
A later variation expanded the scope to include epifauna and infauna assessment, including laboratory sorting and identification of benthic sediment samples, descriptive statistics, potential univariate and multivariate analysis, and review of benthic habitat imagery for epifauna cover. This makes the project a strong example of GAIA Marine’s environmental monitoring capability: practical offshore sampling, defensible sample custody, laboratory coordination, benthic assessment and integrated reporting suitable for approvals, baseline characterisation and environmental management.