Cetacean visual observations, samples and environmental parameters collected onboard the NOAA Ship Gordon Gunter (GU) in the Gulf of America (formerly U.S. Gulf of Mexico) from 2009-06-13 to 2009-08-12 (survey GU0903) (NCEI Accession 0304467)

The Southeast Fisheries Science Center (SEFSC) conducted a shipboard survey in the Gulf of America (formerly U.S. waters of the Gulf of Mexico) from approximately the 200m isobath out to the U.S. Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) from Key West, FL to the U.S.-Mexico border. The survey was conducted between June 10, 2009 and August 13, 2009 onboard the NOAA Ship Gordon Gunter. A visual line-transect and passive acoustic survey was conducted to estimate the abundance and spatial distribution of marine mammals in U.S. oceanic waters. A second objective of the survey was to conduct a pilot study to characterize sperm whale prey using fisheries acoustics equipment and a mid-water trawl.

This dataset includes marine mammal visual observation data and effort points with surveying conditions that can be used in abundance and density modeling per visual line-transect survey protocols. This dataset also includes opportunistic marine mammal photographs and non-marine mammal sightings such as sea turtles. Trawl catch data and associated photographs are also provided. Environmental data collected via Conductivity, Temperature, Depth (CTD) sensor and expendable bathythermographs (XBT) are also included.