Glider observations support plankton population characterization

Sampling and persistent monitoring of undersea habitats provide baseline information and important data characterizing change related to events and phenomena, which informs scientific discovery and aids efforts to better understand and perhaps mitigate change. The Florida Shelf Edge Exploration (FLOSEE) expedition was launched in July 2010, three months after the spill, to explore and assess mesophotic and shelf-edge reefs, which were deemed at risk via the Gulf of Mexico Loop Current and the Florida Current. Expedition goals included characterizing spill impacts on the ecosystems or, in the absence of such evidence, establishing baselines in advance of potential impacts, as the flow of oil from the well had not been contained when the expedition commenced. Mapping and biodiversity assessments were conducted from the NOAA vessel Nancy Foster using multibeam sonar and the University of Connecticut's Kraken II ROV for high- definition video surveys and Multiple Opening and Closing Net Environmental Sensing System (MOCNESS) trawls.