Observational data characterizing environmental baseline conditions along Texas shorelines, baseline occurrence of oil, and baseline wildlife strandings from July 5, 2010 to September 17, 2010

This report contains Texas baseline survey data, and provides additional context for the posted dataset, including information about the collection, analysis, and organization of the data. Characteristics of this dataset include the following: • The dataset includes observational and chemistry data that characterizes environmental baseline conditions along Texas shorelines at various locations extending from approximately the Louisiana/Texas state line to the U.S./Mexico border. • This dataset includes data collected cooperatively with the Trustees. • Before posting, extensive work was done independently by BP contractors to verify some aspects of the posted information (e.g., positional coordinates and field data). The focus of this data posting is observational data collected during the Texas baseline survey. Observations were made at 22 survey locations distributed along the Texas coast in the areas of Sabine Lake, Galveston Bay, Matagorda Bay, Corpus Christi, and Lower Laguna Madre under the Work Plan titled Texas Baseline Survey and Sampling Plan. This work was conducted as part of NRDA studies agreed to and executed cooperatively by the State of Texas Trustee Council, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), and BP. The following types of data are included: observation date, location, baseline occurrences of relevant biota in intertidal or shallow subtidal habitat, baseline occurrence of oil, and baseline wildlife stranding. Because shoreline locations are broken into multiple areas depending upon site specific conditions, data collection methods varied across locations. In addition to the cross-location variation noted above, sampling variations may exist across observers, methods, locations, and times.