Farrington Participates in NOAA Cruise
FAU Harbor Branch scientist Stephanie Farrington was recently on board the NOAA ship Nancy Foster for two weeks, to survey the never-before-observed shelf-edge Marine Protected Areas from North Florida to North Carolina. These sites provide Essential Fish Habitat and are breeding grounds for many species of grouper and snapper. Using multibeam sonar and ROV video transects, each site is thoroughly described to provide baseline data on the habitat, fauna, and fish populations. These data may then be used in the future to see the efficacy of these newly designated protected areas.