NOAA CIOERT REPORT: SURVEY OF THE DEEP-SEA CORAL AND SPONGE ECOSYSTEM OF POURTALÉS. NOAA SHIP NANCY FOSTER FLORIDA SHELF-EDGE EXPLORATION II (FLOSEE) CRUISE LEG 2-SEPTEMBER 23-30, 2011. (NOAA PROJECT NUMBER: NF-11-09-CIOERT).

Abstract

In September 2011, a three week research cruise was conducted by the Cooperative Institute for Ocean Exploration, Research, and Technology (CIOERT) at Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institute-Florida Atlantic University (HBOI-FAU) in collaboration with NOAA. This CIOERT Florida Shelf-Edge Exploration II (FLoSEE) Cruise was conducted in two legs using the NOAA Ship Nancy Foster and the University of Connecticut’s (UCONN) Kraken 2 ROV. This Preliminary Cruise Report is for Leg 2 of the cruise which was funded in part by the NOAA Deep Sea Coral Research and Technology Program (DSCRTP) which supported seven days of ROV time to explore and sample deep-sea coral and sponge ecosystems (DSCEs) within the newly designated Deepwater Coral Habitat Areas of Particular Concern (CHAPC) and the ‘East Hump’ Marine Protected Area (MPA) on the Pourtalès Terrace off the Florida Keys (Figure 1). This Preliminary Cruise Report includes SEADESC Level I data analysis (Appendix 1) which describes in detail each ROV dive including: cruise metadata, figures showing each dive track overlaid on the new multibeam sonar maps, dive track data (start and end latitude, longitude, depth), objectives, general description of the habitat and biota, and images of the biota and habitat that characterize the dive site. The Final Cruise Report will include the SEADESC Level II Report which will provide quantitative analyses for each dive site detailing the densities of the benthic biota and CPCE 4.0© Coral Point Count for percent cover of substrate type and sessile biota