Contract Bid Opportunity - Eelgrass Drone Mapping

Project: South Coast European Green Crab Control Program
Bid: Eelgrass drone mapping
Location: Clayoquot Sound and Sooke Basin, Vancouver Island, BC, Canada
Date of project:
Field Component: July 18th - 26th, 2024
Final Reporting Due: November 1st, 2024
Application Deadline: April 29th, 2024
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Project Summary
Coastal Restoration Society is soliciting contract bids to conduct drone mapping of pre-selected sites and eelgrass beds in the Sooke Basin and Clayoquot Sound areas in July 2024 as part of South Coast European Green Crab Control Project. The South Coast European Green Crab Control Project (SCEGCCP) project works alongside Tla–o-qui-aht, Ahousaht and T’Sou-ke governments and the Department of Fisheries and Oceans to remove invasive European green crabs in an attempt to investigate effective methods to mitigate and remediate the damage that they pose to shared environmental, economic and cultural resources within the Pacific Region. Drone mapping provides valuable insight into annual changes in extent of eelgrass beds that are predicted to increase as European green crab and the detrimental effects they have one eelgrass are removed.
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‍Statement of Work
This contract requires the successful applicant to be proficient in drone operation, postprocessing of images to map intertidal marine ecosystems and skill to identify and report out changes in the extent of eelgrass bed coverage and growth. The successful applicant will be required to conduct drone flights to map sites (using ground control points and a base station),undertake Post-Processing Kinematics (PPK) workflow, compile imagery in appropriate software and provide comparative reporting of drone imagery collected yearly at the sites since 2021.Four sites will be mapped in both regions (total of 8 sites) with sites in Sooke Basin being in close proximity to each other allowing for multiple flights to be completed over a low tide period.

Required Skills and Certifications:
The following qualifications are required for the applicant:
● A sufficient drone model, personnel (e.g. pilot and visual observer) and skills required to operate a drone safely in order to adequately map intertidal eelgrass beds (flight heights between 50-120m).
● All necessary licensing required to fly drones in Sooke Basin and Clayoquot Sound. Note: flights are not conducted in proximity to airports but sites sometimes have floatplanes and other commercial aircraft flying in the area.
● The ability to work remotely for the duration of sampling up to 9 days in a variety of hours, and field conditions
● Ability and software to compile and georeference images undertaking appropriate Post-Processing Kinematics (PPK) workflow.
● Capacity and skill to receive, review and compare drone images to yearly images previously taken at the same sites since 2021.
● Use collected ground truth data from the CRS team to perform manual traces around areas of eelgrass beds to examine changes in extent over time
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Specific Details:
●Mapping will be carried out over low tides periods early in the morning in July working alongside a team of CRS staff that will be conducting other intertidal ground surveys.
● Accommodation and boat transport to the sites (when required) will be provided.
● 2 workable tide days will be completed in Sooke before traveling up to Clayoquot Sound for 4 workable tide days of mapping. Allowing for travel days and bad weather days at each location.

Deliverables:
● All RAW and processed drone imagery. Final report consisting of site images, quantitative changes in eelgrass extent compared to previously collected drone imagery and any challenges or issues in conducting the drone surveys. Previous reports will be provided within the reporting time frame for comparison and review.
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To Apply:
Submit a detailed bid listing valid certifications, relevant experience and qualifications along with a budget for the proposed work. If the applicant has completed similar work in the past 5 years, please attach any example imagery and/or corresponding reports to support the application.

We thank all applicants for their interest; however only those successful in their application bid will be contacted. Please forward these details to info@coastrestore.com. If you have any questions about the project please contact Brenton Twist at brenton@coastrestore.com.For more information about the South Coast European Green Crab Control Project, follow the link:

Coastal Restoration Society's Indigenous First mandate means we offer job and contract opportunities to members of the Indigenous peoples who territories our projects operate within. Applicants are encouraged to self identify their community and connections.