Cruise Report : MDBC Expedition NOAA Ship Nancy Foster, April 14-June 5, 2025 Habitat Assessment and Evaluation Project, Mapping, Ground-Truthing, and Predictive Habitat Modeling Project, and Coral Propagation Technique Development Project

Between April 14 and June 5, 2025, four expedition legs (NF-25-02, NF-25-03, NF-25-04, and NF-25- 05) were completed on the NOAA Ship Nancy Foster. Operations consisted of multibeam echosounding surveys; lander retrieval and deployment; conductivity, temperature, and depth (CTD) operations; and diver-based specimen collections at known impacted and reference mesophotic and deep benthic sites (depths of ~40-3,110 m) in the northern Gulf of America (formerly Gulf of Mexico, E.O. 14172, 2025). Ship-based sensors were used to produce seafloor maps and characterizations of habitats and biological communities. Underwater landers were deployed and retrieved to collect observational data related to seafloor oceanographic conditions, and technical divers collected physical samples of sediment and of coral species targeted for restoration.