CTD, water quality, coccolith taxonomy, microzooplankton abundance, and quantitative phytoplankton profiles data collected from R/V Bellows cruise BE-1301 in the Gulf of Mexico from 2012-07-08 to 2012-07-10 (NCEI Accession 0175138)

This dataset contains CTD, water quality, coccolith taxonomy, microzooplankton abundance, and quantitative phytoplankton profiles data collected from 26 sites off the Florida Panhandle at the head of DeSoto Canyon, Gulf of Mexico aboard the R/V Bellows cruise BE-1301 from 2012-07-08 to 2012-07-10. Water samples were collected and analyzed for nutrient concentrations at the Wetlands Research Laboratory at the University of West Florida. Quantitative nanoplankton census data were taken via scanning electron microscopy to determine after-the-fact, the effects of the Macondo Oil Spill on skeletal (coccolith)-bearing phytoplankton. This dataset also reports microzooplankton species abundance from 13 offshore shelf sites. Samples were collected by vertically towing a 10 micron mesh net through the photic zone. Samples were preserved in 2% Lugols Iodine fixative and were processed in the laboratory under an inverted compound microscope (200x magnification). Plankton samples were identified to the lowest taxonomic level possible. Abundances were recorded as individual counts as well as normalized abundance (i.e., number of each species/total number of specimens examined in sample). Additionally, quantitative phytoplankton profiles were taken specifically at 5 sites (P1, P3, P5, P7, P9) along the Pensacola transect. For this, one-liter samples were collected from the surface and at different depths using Niskin bottles. Samples were filtered onto a 0.45-micrometer nitrocellulose filter and air-dried. A portion of each filter was mounted on an aluminum stub, sputter-coated, and examined with a JEOL JSM-6480 LV scanning electron microscope. Diatoms, coccolithophores, and armored dinoflagellates were identified to the lowest possible taxonomic category. The number of cells of each taxon in a field of view at a magnification of 1000x was recorded, with up to 700 fields-of-view examined, depending on the density of phytoplankton in the sample. The dataset includes the depth, the volume filtered, the number of cells of each taxon counted, and the calculated abundance of each taxon in cells per liter. Micrographs taken during the analysis are included.