Mesophotic and Deep Benthic Communities: Coral Propagation Technique Development (CPT) and Habitat Assessment and Evaluation (HAE) Projects during Expedition PS-22-22 on R/V Point Sur in the Gulf of Mexico

This dataset collection contains raw (unprocessed) data, including physical, navigational, and biological data, as well as map images, stills, and video files collected during the Mesophotic and Deep Benthic Communities (MDBC) expedition PS-22-22 aboard R/V Point Sur between 2022-05-31 and 2022-06-11. The data were collected in 2022 as a part of the Mesophotic and Deep Benthic Communities (MDBC): CPT and HAE Projects. These projects were a few of many selected by the Open Ocean Trustee Implementation Group to restore natural resources injured by the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. Twenty-three remotely operated vehicle (ROV) dives were conducted at twelve sites during the cruise. ROV operations were conducted to sample and survey sites for husbandry and genetics. Live coral fragments were collected for propagation at federal labs. Coral snips were also collected for microbiology, population genetics, taxonomic barcoding, and reproduction data. CTD rosette casts were conducted daily with water sampling for husbandry and environmental DNA, also known as eDNA. Data loggers were deployed to monitor temperature and currents, and one data sensor that had been previously deployed by a separate project to monitor light and temperature parameters was recovered. Highlight videos were collected for outreach and education purposes as well. Additional related processed data products may also be included in this collection as they are submitted to the NCEI archive.