Cruise data for neuston net and paired bongo net tows from 47 stations in the northern Gulf of Mexico from R/V Pelican cruise LF2017A July 2017

Shelf and slope waters in the Deep Water Horizon oil spill (DWHOS) area are known to serve as critical spawning, nursery, and foraging habitat of several important oceanic species including billfishes (e.g. blue marlin, white marlin, sailfish), tunas (bluefin tuna, yellowfin tuna), and other pelagic taxa (swordfish, dolphinfishes). The aim of this component was to further investigate the potential ecological effects of the DWHOS on pelagic fishes during the early life period. Larval fishes were sampled from 47 stations in the northern Gulf of Mexico and cruise data was collected at each site including latitude/longitude, date, time and environmental data (sea surface temperature, salinity, dissolved oxygen) during 2017. Samples were obtained from R/V Pelican cruise LF2017A in July 2017. This dataset reports environmental data (temperature, salinity, dissolved oxygen) collected during the cruise. Related presence/absence and density data for epipelagic tows collected during this cruise can be found under GRIIDC Unique Dataset Identifier (UDI): R4.x257.227:0010 (DOI: 10.7266/n7-zs50-v228).