Pelican HAE/CPT cruise

This cruise will support multiple aspects of the Mesophotic and Deep Benthic Communities (MDBC) Restoration goals as outlined by NRDA. Specifically, the Habitat Assessment and Evaluation and Coral Propagation Techniques Projects. The life histories, diversity, and population structures of MDBC species in the Gulf of Mexico are not well understood. The goal of this project is to fill those data gaps, determine baseline conditions, and characterize key community conditions at both injured and reference sites. This project would involve strategically designed field surveys, with subsequent laboratory-based analyses of MDBC. The surveys would support analyses of habitats and determinations of ages, growth rates, and reproductive potential of mesophotic and deepwater corals, as well as their health and condition. The most direct approach to restoring MDBC is to facilitate the growth of new corals of the same species as those damaged by the DWH oil spill. The objectives of the Coral Propagation Techniques project are to develop techniques that can be used for direct restoration of MDBC at a scale that is meaningful relative to the injury to these communities. Corals and their surrounding communities will be observed, habitats documented, and biological samples be collected. A limited number of snips from target species will be collected live from the parent colony and returned to the lab for husbandry studies