Abstract:

Evaluate the distribution, abundance and biodiversity of mesopelagic and bathypelagic plankton and micronekton in the vicinity of the Macondo MC252 well as well as far-field sites with ROVs. Gulf SERPENT is an industrial-academic partnership that utilizes ROVs based on deepwater exploration and production facilities to study biodiversity in the mesopelagic and bathypelagic regions of the northern Gulf of Mexico. This project was designed to utilize ROVs opportunistically to evaluate the distribution, abundance and biodiversity of mesopelagic and bathypelagic plankton and micronekton in the vicinity of the MC252 well as well as at far-field sites.