Pulley Ridge is a series of drowned barrier islands that extends almost 200 km in 60-100 m water depths. This drowned ridge is located on the Florida Platform in the southeastern Gulf of Mexico about 250 km west of Cape Sable, Florida. This barrier island chain formed during the initial stage of the Holocene marine transgression. These islands were then submerged and left abandoned near the outer edge of the Florida Platform. The southern portion of Pulley Ridge hosts zooxanthellate scleractinian corals, green, red and brown macro algae, and a mix of deep and typically shallow-water tropical fishes. This reef community is in unusually deep water, and its extent and the controls on its distribution were unknown. To address these questions scientists from the U.S. Geological Survey Coastal and Marine Geology Program in cooperation with scientists from the University of South Florida Department of Marine Sciences have completed a detailed mapping of the southernmost 35 km of Pulley Ridge. The area was mapped using multibeam bathymetry, sidescan-sonar imagery, and high-resolution seismic-reflection profiling to define the geologic framework on which the reef is established. Submersible dives, remotely operated vehicle (ROV) transects, and transects of bottom photographs and video were collected to identify the corals and to map their distribution. This extensive suite of data has been compiled and preliminary analysis of the data suggests that the reefs are not tied to the ridge system, but instead are more broadly distributed. Whether reef distribution is controlled by oceanographic conditions or by subtle differences in the substrate that overlies the barrier island system is unclear, and are topics of continued research.

Pulley Ridge is a series of drowned barrier islands that extends almost 200 km in 60-100 m water depths. This drowned ridge is located on the Florida Platform in the southeastern Gulf of Mexico about 250 km west of Cape Sable, Florida. This barrier island chain formed during the initial stage of the Holocene marine transgression. These islands were then submerged and left abandoned near the outer edge of the Florida Platform. The southern portion of Pulley Ridge hosts zooxanthellate scleractinian corals, green, red and brown macro algae, and a mix of deep and typically shallow-water tropical fishes. This reef community is in unusually deep water, and its extent and the controls on its distribution were unknown. To address these questions scientists from the U.S. Geological Survey Coastal and Marine Geology Program in cooperation with scientists from the University of South Florida Department of Marine Sciences have completed a detailed mapping of the southernmost 35 km of Pulley Ridge. The area was mapped using multibeam bathymetry, sidescan-sonar imagery, and high-resolution seismic-reflection profiling to define the geologic framework on which the reef is established. Submersible dives, remotely operated vehicle (ROV) transects, and transects of bottom photographs and video were collected to identify the corals and to map their distribution. This extensive suite of data has been compiled and preliminary analysis of the data suggests that the reefs are not tied to the ridge system, but instead are more broadly distributed. Whether reef distribution is controlled by oceanographic conditions or by subtle differences in the substrate that overlies the barrier island system is unclear, and are topics of continued research.

These Shoreline data were gathered and utilized during the Response and Assessment phases of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. These data are for the salt and brackish marsh, tidal mudflats, mangroves and sandy beaches. It includes discrete samples, field observations, field photographs and related files originating from the Shorelines Technical Working Group (TWG). The data were compiled by the NOAA Office of Response and Restoration (OR&R) and Trustees in the Data Integration, Visualization, Exploration, and Reporting (DIVER) data warehouse prior to being archived by the NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI). The collection of files include environmental data used to determine the extent and magnitude of injury to the Gulf of Mexico ecosystem from the Deepwater Horizon oil spill. These data were used as part of the Programmatic Damage Assessment and Restoration Plan (PDARP) developed through the Natural Resource Damage Assessment (NRDA) conducted as a result of the April 20, 2010 explosion and subsequent sinking of the Deepwater Horizon offshore drilling rig in the Gulf of Mexico, about 40 miles (60 km) southeast off the Louisiana coast, that led to a major oil spill in the region.

The NF-19-09 expedition on board the NOAA Ship Nancy Foster was part of the multi-year Deep SEARCH project. This cruise occurred from October 21 to October 30, 2019. The cruise will focus on several seep sites, canyons, and hard bottom features located less than 100 nm offshore. This is the third research expedition associated with the Deep SEARCH project focused on exploring and characterizing seeps, corals, and canyon environments along the Atlantic margin. This project is a collaboration among three federal agencies: Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM), NOAA Office of Ocean Exploration and Research (OER), and the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). TDI Brooks with academic partners has been selected to serve as BOEM contractor for this study. Data gathered during this mission and past cruises for this project will help inform multiple management issues concerning this region. The goal of this expedition was to recover benthic lander deployments, conduct mid-water trawling of the deep-scattering layer, collect water samples for christry and microbial diversity analyses, perform multibeam mapping at specific targeted areas, and collect sediment, water, and faunal samples for eDNA work.

Pulley Ridge is a series of drowned barrier islands that extends almost 200 km in 60-100 m water depths. This drowned ridge is located on the Florida Platform in the southeastern Gulf of Mexico about 250 km west of Cape Sable, Florida. This barrier island chain formed during the initial stage of the Holocene marine transgression. These islands were then submerged and left abandoned near the outer edge of the Florida Platform. The southern portion of Pulley Ridge hosts zooxanthellate scleractinian corals, green, red and brown macro algae, and a mix of deep and typically shallow-water tropical fishes. This reef community is in unusually deep water, and its extent and the controls on its distribution were unknown. To address these questions scientists from the U.S. Geological Survey Coastal and Marine Geology Program in cooperation with scientists from the University of South Florida Department of Marine Sciences have completed a detailed mapping of the southernmost 35 km of Pulley Ridge. The area was mapped using multibeam bathymetry, sidescan-sonar imagery, and high-resolution seismic-reflection profiling to define the geologic framework on which the reef is established. Submersible dives, remotely operated vehicle (ROV) transects, and transects of bottom photographs and video were collected to identify the corals and to map their distribution. This extensive suite of data has been compiled and preliminary analysis of the data suggests that the reefs are not tied to the ridge system, but instead are more broadly distributed. Whether reef distribution is controlled by oceanographic conditions or by subtle differences in the substrate that overlies the barrier island system is unclear, and are topics of continued research.

Pulley Ridge is a series of drowned barrier islands that extends almost 200 km in 60-100 m water depths. This drowned ridge is located on the Florida Platform in the southeastern Gulf of Mexico about 250 km west of Cape Sable, Florida. This barrier island chain formed during the initial stage of the Holocene marine transgression. These islands were then submerged and left abandoned near the outer edge of the Florida Platform. The southern portion of Pulley Ridge hosts zooxanthellate scleractinian corals, green, red and brown macro algae, and a mix of deep and typically shallow-water tropical fishes. This reef community is in unusually deep water, and its extent and the controls on its distribution were unknown. To address these questions scientists from the U.S. Geological Survey Coastal and Marine Geology Program in cooperation with scientists from the University of South Florida Department of Marine Sciences have completed a detailed mapping of the southernmost 35 km of Pulley Ridge. The area was mapped using multibeam bathymetry, sidescan-sonar imagery, and high-resolution seismic-reflection profiling to define the geologic framework on which the reef is established. Submersible dives, remotely operated vehicle (ROV) transects, and transects of bottom photographs and video were collected to identify the corals and to map their distribution. This extensive suite of data has been compiled and preliminary analysis of the data suggests that the reefs are not tied to the ridge system, but instead are more broadly distributed. Whether reef distribution is controlled by oceanographic conditions or by subtle differences in the substrate that overlies the barrier island system is unclear, and are topics of continued research.

The Windows to the Deep 2021: Southeast U.S. ROV and Mapping expedition (EX-21-07) was a combined mapping and remotely operated vehicle (ROV) expedition to the Blake Plateau and Florida Straits that took place between October 26 and November 15, 2021. Operations during this 21-days at sea expedition included a combination of ROV dives in support of NOAA Ocean Exploration and its partner priorities. The primary focus of this expedition was the Blake Plateau, including its escarpment, off the coast of the Southeast U.S., but three dives were also conducted in the western and central Florida Straits due to weather conditions. Overall, 14 dives were completed, including two explorations of the water column, several dives to mound and ridgelike structures likely to be bioherms, two deeper dives to explore the steep Blake Escarpment, and one dive to document a lone sinkhole in the southeast region of the Blake Plateau. ROV dives were conducted from 300 m to 3650 meters water depth for a total of 47 hours of bottom time, and 15,800 square km were mapped using EM 304 multibeam sonar. All data associated with this expedition have been archived and are publicly available through the NOAA Archives.

The Windows to the Deep 2021: Southeast U.S. ROV and Mapping expedition (EX-21-07) was a combined mapping and remotely operated vehicle (ROV) expedition to the Blake Plateau and Florida Straits that took place between October 26 and November 15, 2021. Operations during this 21-days at sea expedition included a combination of ROV dives in support of NOAA Ocean Exploration and its partner priorities. The primary focus of this expedition was the Blake Plateau, including its escarpment, off the coast of the Southeast U.S., but three dives were also conducted in the western and central Florida Straits due to weather conditions. Overall, 14 dives were completed, including two explorations of the water column, several dives to mound and ridgelike structures likely to be bioherms, two deeper dives to explore the steep Blake Escarpment, and one dive to document a lone sinkhole in the southeast region of the Blake Plateau. ROV dives were conducted from 300 m to 3650 meters water depth for a total of 47 hours of bottom time, and 15,800 square km were mapped using EM 304 multibeam sonar. All data associated with this expedition have been archived and are publicly available through the NOAA Archives.

These Nearshore Sediment and Water data were gathered and utilized during the Response and Assessment phases of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. These data are for the soil near the shore and the invertebrates that live in the waters from the low-tide line to the edge of the continental shelf at a depth of 656 feet. It includes discrete samples, field observations, field photographs and related files originating from the Nearshore Sediment and Associated Resources Technical Working Group (TWG). The data were compiled by the NOAA Office of Response and Restoration (OR&R) and Trustees in the Data Integration, Visualization, Exploration, and Reporting (DIVER) data warehouse prior to being archived by the NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI). The collection of files include environmental data used to determine the extent and magnitude of injury to the Gulf of Mexico ecosystem from the Deepwater Horizon oil spill. These data were used as part of the Programmatic Damage Assessment and Restoration Plan (PDARP) developed through the Natural Resource Damage Assessment (NRDA) conducted as a result of the April 20, 2010 explosion and subsequent sinking of the Deepwater Horizon offshore drilling rig in the Gulf of Mexico, about 40 miles (60 km) southeast off the Louisiana coast, that led to a major oil spill in the region.

The Windows to the Deep 2021: Southeast U.S. ROV and Mapping expedition (EX-21-07) was a combined mapping and remotely operated vehicle (ROV) expedition to the Blake Plateau and Florida Straits that took place between October 26 and November 15, 2021. Operations during this 21-days at sea expedition included a combination of ROV dives in support of NOAA Ocean Exploration and its partner priorities. The primary focus of this expedition was the Blake Plateau, including its escarpment, off the coast of the Southeast U.S., but three dives were also conducted in the western and central Florida Straits due to weather conditions. Overall, 14 dives were completed, including two explorations of the water column, several dives to mound and ridgelike structures likely to be bioherms, two deeper dives to explore the steep Blake Escarpment, and one dive to document a lone sinkhole in the southeast region of the Blake Plateau. ROV dives were conducted from 300 m to 3650 meters water depth for a total of 47 hours of bottom time, and 15,800 square km were mapped using EM 304 multibeam sonar. All data associated with this expedition have been archived and are publicly available through the NOAA Archives.