Abstract:

Shelf and slope waters in the Deep Water Horizon oil spill (DWHOS) area are known to serve as critical spawning, nursery, and foraging habitat of several important oceanic species including billfishes (e.g. blue marlin, white marlin, sailfish), tunas (bluefin tuna, yellowfin tuna), and other pelagic taxa (swordfish, dolphinfishes). The aim of this component was to further investigate the potential ecological effects of the DWHOS on pelagic fishes during the early life period. Larval fishes were sampled from 47 stations in the northern Gulf of Mexico and cruise data was collected at each site including latitude/longitude, date, time and environmental data (sea surface temperature, salinity, dissolved oxygen) during 2017. Samples were obtained from R/V Pelican cruise LF2017A in July 2017. This dataset reports environmental data (temperature, salinity, dissolved oxygen) collected during the cruise. Related presence/absence and density data for epipelagic tows collected during this cruise can be found under GRIIDC Unique Dataset Identifier (UDI): R4.x257.227:0010 (DOI: 10.7266/n7-zs50-v228).

Suggested Citation:

Rooker, Jay R. and R.J. David Wells. 2017. Cruise data for neuston net and paired bongo net tows from 47 stations in the northern Gulf of Mexico from R/V Pelican cruise LF2017A July 2017. Distributed by: GRIIDC, Harte Research Institute, Texas A&M University–Corpus Christi. doi:10.7266/N7F18X3B

Purpose:

Generalized additive models (GAMs) were developed for periods before (2007-2009) and after (2015-2017) the DWHOS event to characterize habitat associations of selected taxa (billfishes, tunas, dolphinfishes, flyingfishes). Habitat suitability models were used to predict the probability of occurrence of each taxa during (2010) and several years after (2011-2013) in relation to regions exposed to oil to identify areas of high quality habitat that overlap with regions exposed to the DWHOS. In addition, life history and ecosystem parameters that favor the production and survival of pelagic fish larvae and juveniles from multiple cohorts (2015-2017) were compared to estimates before and after the DWHOS.

Data Parameters and Units:

Cruise, Year, Month, Collection Date (MM/DD/YYYY), Station, Start Latitude (decimal degrees N), Start Longitude (decimal degrees W), Time (HH:MM), Sea Surface Temperature (SST, deg C), Salinity (ppt), Dissolved Oxygen (mg/L)

Methods:

Sea surface water samples were collected at each station and measured for temperature, salinity, and dissolved oxygen. GPS location was recorded at each station.

Instruments:

EXO2 Multiparameter Sonde (Salinity, Dissolved Oxygen, Sea Surface Temperature) Garmin GPSmap76 (Latitude and Longitude)

Individual Files: