OBJECTIVES 1) Habitat surveys: Conduct habitat surveys across the edge of Pedro Bank and collect oceanographic information on currents, temperature and circulation in these areas. Habitat surveys will be located in areas that are proposed as oil and gas exploration and drilling sites and in proposed fish sanctuaries. One goal of this work is to identify other high value coral reef habitats that would benefit for inclusion in a Pedro Bank network of MPAs; 2) Coral reef assessments: Characterize coral reef community structure and health at representative locations along the edge of the bank; 3) Invertebrate assessments: Characterize the population structure of conch, lobster, urchin and other motile invertebrates throughout reef environments; 4) Mapping: Evaluate the potential application of side scan sonar as a tool to develop habitat maps and collect relevant habitat and bathymetric data within a proposed fish sanctuary at the southern edge of the bank; 5) Larval research: Obtain plankton samples to characterize the distribution, diversity and size of larval fish, conch and lobster populations within the proposed sanctuary; 6) Megafauna assessments: Collect observational data on sea turtles, seabirds, sharks, whales and dolphins and unusual floating aggregations of Sargassum seaweed; and 7) Fishery status: Evaluate patterns of use of fisheries resources and relate this to existing coral reef fish populations.
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