Cruise Report: NOAA Ship Gordon Gunter Cruise GU24-02, June – August 2024, Vessel Survey for Abundance and Distribution Summer Research Cruise

The 2010 Deepwater Horizon (DWH) oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico (GoMx) significantly and negatively impacted marine mammal and seabird population dynamics and health. The DWH oil spill settlement provides Natural Resource Damage Assessment (NRDA) Trustees (Trustees) up to $8.8 billion, distributed over 15 years, to restore natural resources and services impacted (injured) by the spill. Given the unprecedented temporal, spatial, and funding scales associated with the DWH NRDA restoration effort, the Trustees recognized the need for robust Monitoring and Adaptive Management (MAM) to support restoration planning and implementation.