This data set contains oceanographic data (CTD Data, Fathometer, Knudsen echo sounder, Mocness plankton tow net, Oxygen, and Salinity). The researchers used a submersible, a remotely operated vehicle, and other technology to assess and record conditions in the water column and on the seafloor to gather baseline data along Florida's shelf edge.

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This dataset contains data collected during the Life on the Edge II (SJ0403) cruise, June 8-22, 2004, aboard the Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institution's research vessel Seward Johnson. The cruise was coordinated by the NOAA Office of Ocean Exploration. The science team studied both the outer-shelf hard grounds, found in relatively shallow water (80 to 200 m), and the middle-slope coral banks, found in deeper water (350 to 800 m). Some of the data in this accession came from the Virtual Integrated Data System (VIDS) installed on the Seward Johnson, collecting data from shipboard instruments including meteorological sensors, TSGs, GPS, and others. Beyond the beach and influenced by the Gulf Stream, the unique habitats along "the edge" of the continental shelf and the deeper continental slope support myriad life forms. The Life on the Edge 2004 mission, part of a several-year study, aims to document and understand these habitats and the species that live in them. The mission team is searching for coral reefs and other reef habitats, from the sargassum floating in the surface waters to the corals found in deep water. The scientists hope to characterize the trophodynamics (energy flow) and community structures in these environments.

The diverse ocean-bottom habitats off the coast of South Carolina and Georgia support a corresponding diversity of organisms. An imaginary line, or transect, running from the coast of Georgia to the edge of the continental shelf off South Carolina would cross these habitats: coastal sands washed down from the land; emergent, hard-bottom, rocky outcrops on the continental shelf; the soft muddy sediments on the upper Florida-Hatteras Slope; and the complex bottom topography of the Charleston Bump on the Blake Plateau. Beyond the Blake Plateau lies the deep ocean, or the abyss. The waters overlying the transect change as well. They become increasingly less influenced by local climate and runoff from the land, and more influenced by tropical currents of the Gulf Stream, as you move offshore. Scientists on the Estuary to the Abyss Expedition will research the habitats and fauna along this line, which we refer to as the "Latitude 31-30 Transect." Sponsored by the NOAA Office of Exploration, the expedition team will work aboard Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institution's research vessel, the Seward Johnson, which carries and deploys the deep submersible vehicle, the Johnson-Sea-Link II. For nearly a half-century, fishery scientists and marine ecologists have conducted research and monitoring of many of the near-shore marine and estuarine habitats off the coast of the southeastern U.S. Historically, most of these research efforts have been aimed at waters inshore of the Florida-Hatteras Slope, where productive shelf waters support important fisheries for snappers, groupers, and other reef fishes. The deeper waters beyond the Florida-Hatteras Slope have been studied less. The Estuary to the Abyss cruise will concentrate on deeper waters (those greater than 400 m) along the transect. Our research will complement previous studies of shallow-water faunas. We will examine changes in faunas that occur with increasing depth and distance offshore. The exploration along this transect will also help us understand the influence of several variables -- including distance from land (and its human inhabitants), bottom type, and overlying water masses -- on the assemblages of organisms that dwell on the bottom. Overall, we will expand our knowledge of bottom faunas from the estuary to the deep sea.

Despite substantial interference from hurricanes Bonnie, Charley, and Katrina, Operations Deep-Scope 2004 and 2005 were extremely successful. In addition to numerous discoveries (e.g., fluorescent sharks, new large deep-sea squid, UV vision in deep-sea crabs, the importance of polarized light and bioluminescent searchlights), these expeditions developed several new technologies. The Eye-in-the-Sea is now a robust stealth camera system; waveband, fluorescence, polarization, and UV imaging techniques are well-developed; and we can now collect deep-sea benthic species without damaging their eyes. Together these achievements place us in a unique position to explore the deep sea in innovative and exciting ways. In 2007 we propose to extend the envelope of this exciting frontier in ocean exploration in two ways: 1) developing further imaging and listening technologies, 2) using the currently developed methods to explore the cliffs in the Bahamas that range from the surface to 3000 feet in depth. Results from this proposal will characterize an important deep-sea benthic environment, and use new technologies to locate inorganic and organic ocean resources, fulfilling two of the main themes of Ocean Exploration. The proposed cliff sites range from shallow coral reefs to the abyssal plain and will allow us to explore a large number of benthic communities in a small location and learn how depth affects undersea life. Given the technological focus of our research however, if the ships' schedules should make it difficult to work in this area we would welcome the opportunity to test these new technologies at any biologically rich sites. Unlike many research cruises, which focus in depth on one problem and method, we propose a number of smaller projects that are linked by the methods and questions of visual ecology and optical oceanography. The ultimate goal of our highly interdisciplinary group of researchers is to explore and characterize the deep-sea world in these new ways.

This dataset includes CTD, ADCP, and other data from the Life on the Edge 2003 cruise collected in the Atlantic Ocean on the outer continental shelf of the Carolinas. These data were collected from NOAA Ship Seward Johnson and unmanned ROV Johnson-Sea-Link II by NOAA Office of Exploration from August 16, 2003, through August 27, 2003.

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This data set contains oceanographic data (CTD, Landers, Piston Cores) and event/sample logs. The project goal was to improve understanding of the planktonic and benthic communities (including corals) that reside in and around mid- and South-Atlantic canyon and cold seep habitats, including estimates of genetic connectivity among sites and trophic connectivity from the water column to benthic communities.

This dataset contains oceanographic data (ADCP Lander, Chemical, CTD, ROV, SCS), biological images and videos, and documentation. This project involves a comprehensive multidisciplinary study to explore and characterize two deep coral habitats with contrasting benthic communities on the west Florida slope of the Gulf of Mexico, including the testing of newly developed sensors deployed on an ROV to map and fully resolve the carbonate system at the sites.