2011 NSF RAPID cruise Pt 2: Macroalgae and macrocrustaceans in the NW Gulf of Mexico

The NSF RAPID grant (DEB-1045690) awarded to Suzanne Fredericq and Darryl Felder from the University of Louisiana at Lafayette (http://biology.ucs.louisiana.edu/) and entitled "RAPID: Impacts of the Deepwater Horizon crude oil spill on the diversity of macroalgae and macrocrustaceans inhabiting deepwater hard banks in the NW, NE and SE Gulf of Mexico" is facilitating critical assessment of pre- and post-oil spill impacts on the diversity, vitality, and distribution of these offshore organisms. This video shows part 2 of the April 20-23, 2011 RAPID sampling cruise offshore the northern Gulf. Part 2 documents in situ filming with a SeaViewer Underwater Camera of the rhodolith and rubble bottom and a gray triggerfish at Ewing Bank (Fish Haven), April 21, 2011; box dredging at Ewing Bank, ~28o.05.737'N, 91o01.608'W (in), ~28o.05.838'N, 91o01.769'W(out), 55-57 m depth; and mud dredged from the 42 Fathom Lump, ~28o.06.217'N, 90o56.205'W (in), ~28o.05.989'N, 90o56.225'W (out).

The Hourglass-design box dredge provides a now standardized method of semi-quantitative sampling. It is an effective tool only on substrata of low relief that consist of loose rocks and rubble, shells or shell hash, and calcareous nodules (rhodoliths).

The expedition departed from LUMCON in Cocodrie LA, on board the R/V Pelican, a 32 m (105ft) ABS Class "A-1+ Oceanographic, steel-hull coastal research vessel operated by UNOLS.

Category:

Science & Technology

Tags:

• sponges
• seaweeds
• crustaceans
• National Science Foundation
• mud
• rhodoliths
• northern
• exploration
• systematics
• taxonomy
• evolution
• Rhodophyta
• Chlorophyta
• Phaeophyceae
• oil
• bp
• biodiversity