MOCNESS zooplankton data collected during NRDA Plankton Survey Walton Smith 3 (WS3) in the northern Gulf of Mexico from 2010-09-26 to 2010-10-01 on board the R/V F.G. Walton Smith Cruise WS1017

This dataset contains MOCNESS (Multiple Opening/Closing Net Environmental Sensing System) zooplankton data collected on board the R/V F.G. Walton Smith during Natural Resource Damage Assessment (NRDA) Plankton Survey Walton Smith 3 (WS3) in the Gulf of Mexico from 2010-09-26 to 2010-10-01. This survey (WS3, chief scientist: Malinda Sutor) was part of a series of NRDA cruises conducted in 2010 and 2011 to evaluate the distribution and densities of ichthyoplankton and other zooplankton in Gulf of Mexico waters potentially affected by the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill (DWHOS) and in surrounding areas. This dataset includes zooplankton data collected with depth-discrete MOCNESS tows including sampling event data (time, latitude, longitude, depth, volume filtered) and specimen data from ZooScan imagery (taxonomic identification, number of individuals per unit volume).