Two mesophotic expedition legs were completed June 29–July 30, 2022, on the NOAA Ship Pisces. Operations consisted of remotely operated vehicle (ROV) dives, multibeam surveys, autonomous operated vehicle (AUV) dives, and conductivity, temperature, and depth (CTD) profiler operations at known impacted and reference mesophotic sites (depths of 50–150 m) in the northern Gulf of Mexico. Project objectives from Mapping, Ground-truthing, and Predictive Habitat Modeling (MGM) and Habitat Assessment and Evaluation (HAE) were addressed on this mission. Habitat characterization and analysis of biological samples collected with the University of North Carolina at Wilmington Underwater Vehicles Program (UNCW-UVP) Mohawk ROV will fill critical data gaps on the biology and ecology at impacted and reference sites, assess potential ongoing impacts from threats, refine predictive habitat models, help target locations for direct restoration and protection, and determine a baseline for health and condition. Multibeam echosounder (MBES) data from the ship’s EM2040 system and seafloor reflectivity data from a synthetic aperture sonar (SAS) equipped on Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute’s (WHOI) Remus 600 AUV will help document the broad-scale abundance and distribution of MDBC, characterize benthic habitats, and provide information that will help guide future ROV surveys.

Depth range
50- 150 m

Mesophotic “mentions”

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Classification
* Presents original data
* Focused on 'mesophotic' depth range
* Focused on 'mesophotic coral ecosystem'

Fields
Disturbances
Ecology
Oceanography

Focusgroups
Antipatharia (Black Corals)
Octocorallia (Soft Corals)
Scleractinia (Hard Corals)

Locations
USA - Gulf of Mexico

Platforms
Autonomous Underwater Vehicle (AUV)
Remotely Operated Vehicle (ROV)
Sonar / Multibeam
Surface-deployed sensors and samplers