Title

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

Document Type

Dataset

Publication Date

10-6-2017

UDI

R4.x257.227:0020

Funding Source

RFP-IV

Data Collection Period

2017-07-01 to 2017-07-04

Database

Gulf of Mexico Research Initiative Information and Data Cooperative (GRIIDC)

DOI

10.7266/N7F18X3B

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 potential ecological effects of the DWHOS on pelagic fishes during the early life period. Larval fishes were sampled from 48 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. Additional data from this cruise can be found in GRIIDC datasets R4.x257.227:0007 (Stable isotopes), R4.x257.227:0009 (Presence/Absence and density), and R4.x257.227:0015 (Otolith chemistry).

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.

File Format(s)

xlsx

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