Oceanographic data and ROV dive-related multimedia and information collected during the EX1202L2 (Gulf of Mexico Exploration) expedition on NOAA Ship OKEANOS EXPLORER in the Gulf of Mexico from 2012-03-19 to 2012-04-11 (NCEI Accession 0087994)

This dataset contains oceanographic data collected in areas off the West Florida Shelf, around Desoto Canyon, in the vicinity of the Deepwater Horizon site and Mississippi Canyon. Daily schedules were split between daytime ROV operations (<4000 m) and nightly multibeam surveys. Nightly operations also included CTD casts and water-column experiments. This expedition identified and explored the diversity of benthic habitats in the region, located and characterized submerged cultural resources and their eligibility for the National Register of Historic Places, expanded tests of acoustic methods to detect gas seeps and measure flux, and improved capabilities to explore the water column.