Digital Video taken during Johnson-Sea-Link submersible dive 4910 of the NOAA Office of Ocean Exploration's Florida Coast Deep Corals 2005 cruise, November 08, 2005 (NCEI Accession 0036668)

This video data was recorded during the Florida Coast Deep Corals mission of 2005. The data gathered during this expedition provided a strong foundation of information on the deep-water coral ecosystems off the Florida coast.

With the continuing global depletion of coastal fisheries, commercial fishing vessels are moving into deeper water and exploiting fish and crustacean species that are frequently associated with complex coral structures. Deep-sea coral ecosystems (DSCE) exist at numerous locations around the coast of Florida. These coral communities provide habitat for relatively unknown but highly diverse assemblages of fish and invertebrates, many of which are undoubtedly described species. There is therefore an urgent need to identify these coral habitats, map their distribution and abundance, and document any potentially valuable fishery species associated with them. Resource managers can use this information to develop conservation policy and scientists can use it as a foundation for hypothesis driven ecological and physiological research. Since deep water reefs are not visible to the general public, dissemination of information through the media and the education system is vital in order to create empathy for their protection. The overarching objective of this proposal is to increase the current understanding of deep-water coral habitats along Florida's coasts. Unlike shallow water tropical reefs, deep-water reefs are not well known.

本视频数据集采集自2005年佛罗里达海岸深海珊瑚科考任务（Florida Coast Deep Corals mission）。本次科考所获数据为佛罗里达近岸深水珊瑚生态系统的研究奠定了坚实的信息基础。

随着全球近海渔业资源持续枯竭，商业渔船正转向更深水域，捕捞频繁依附于复杂珊瑚结构的鱼类和甲壳类物种。深海珊瑚生态系统（Deep-sea coral ecosystems, DSCE）广泛分布于佛罗里达沿岸诸多海域。此类珊瑚群落为相对鲜为人知但物种高度多样的鱼类与无脊椎动物类群提供栖息环境，其中多数无疑属于已被正式描述的物种。因此亟需开展以下工作：识别此类珊瑚栖息地、绘制其分布与丰度图谱，并记录与之伴生的潜在高价值渔业物种。资源管理者可借助该信息制定保护政策，科研人员则可将其作为开展假说驱动型生态与生理学研究的基础。

由于深水珊瑚礁无法为普通大众所见，通过媒体与教育体系传播相关信息，对于唤起公众对其保护的共情至关重要。本提案的总体目标，是深化人们对佛罗里达沿岸深水珊瑚栖息地的现有认知。与浅水热带珊瑚礁不同，深水珊瑚礁目前尚未得到充分了解。