The Megabenthic Invertebrate Cruise was a three-week, 

 multi-ship expedition during June 1973 to the Veatch Canyon area 

 off New England. The purpose of the cruise was to study the behavior and 

 ecology of megabenthic invertebrates, such as lobsters, shrimp, and 

 crabs, and also to evaluate the efficiency of various methods of deter- 

 mining the abundance and distribution of these species. 

 AREA OF OPERATION 



The research was conducted in and around Veatch Canyon, a 

 commercial lobstering area, located eighty miles south of Nantucket, 

 Massachusetts (Figure 1) . Samples were collected and observations 

 were made at a series of stations arrayed according to a statistical 

 plan along seven transects aligned perpendicular to the depth contours. 

 The depth range was 73 to 329 meters. The bottom was mostly silty 

 sand, except in the heart of the Canyon where it was mostly clay covered 

 with a thin layer of sediment. 

 VESSELS 



The following vessels participated in the cruise: 



1. R.V. Delaware II, a 167-foot NOAA fisheries research vessel. 



2 . G^ W^_ Pierce , a 160-foot research vessel chartered from the 

 Tracor Corporation as the submersible tender. 



3 . DSRV Nekton , a two-man research submersible leased 

 from General Oceanographic Incorporated . 



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