EK80 Water Column Sonar Data Collected During PC2302

Mission Objectives: 1. Conduct high-resolution multibeam echosounder surveys for bathymetry and backscatter. 2. Define water column oceanographic properties and sound velocity via CTD and XBT casts. 3. Conduct ROV transects and imagery for habitat characterization. 4. Collect samples with the ROV for genetic and isotopic analysis. 5. Conduct total water column CTD rosette casts and water sampling at ROV and AUV sites for nutrient and eDNA analysis. 6. Conduct AUV surveys to collect high resolution bathymetry and backscatter. 7. Conduct AUV surveys to collect high resolution imagery for ground-truthing. 8. Retrieve two short-term landers at DeSoto Rim and re-deploy them at either West Florida Shelf or Pinnacles Trend. On leg 1, ship-based multibeam mapping and CTD casts were carried out during the day while AUV and CTD operations were carried out at night. This was due to operation restrictions at night (transit speeds necessary to conduct multibeam mapping operations are prohibited at night) inside the Rice's Whale Core Distribution Area (CDA). On leg 2, ROV and CTD operations were conducted during the day and AUV operations were carried out at night. On leg 3, ROV and CTD operations were conducted at night while multibeam surveys were conducted during the day. Again, this was due to operational restrictions at night inside the Rice's Whale CDA.