The Vadills is a complex of interconnected lagoonal basins on the west coast of Shetland at the head of Brindister Voe, some 10km to the east of Papa Stour. At the time of the survey the site was a candidate Special Area of Conservation (cSAC) under the EC Habitats Directive (92/43/EEC) on the basis of its Annex 1 habitat lagoons. The cSAC also encompasses The Vadills SSSI, notified for its lagoonal shores and tidal rapids.
The aim was to initiate the monitoring of the Vadills cSAC, with the main emphasis being on establishing re-locatable monitoring stations and gathering field data from each station at a Marine Nature Conservation Review (MNCR) Phase 2 level of recording.
The survey included the following elements:
In situ recording using divers or intertidal surveyors to:
establish re-locatable transects to cover both lagoonal and tidal narrows features as a basis for survey and monitoring;
record epibiota to MNCR Phase 2 level within spatially defined biological zones identified along the length of the transect;
obtain a video and stills photographic record of: a) the extent and distribution of substrata and habitats within each transect site, and b) the extent and distribution of epibiota and biotopes within the same sites.
Survey work took place in August 2003, and eleven transects were established and surveyed (7 Lagoon Transects and 4 Tidal narrows transects. Where possible, each transect extended across the littoral zone into the sublittoral, and sheltered lagoonal transects as well as tidal narrows transects were studied. All of which were easily re-locatable and with evenly sloping terrain, extending for up to 100m from the supralittoral start point to the sublittoral end point.