Date of Award

2022

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Bachelors

Department

Natural Sciences

First Advisor

Toro Farmer, Gerardo

Area of Concentration

Marine Biology

Abstract

Transects along the Elbow, a popular offshore fishing area in the West Florida Shelf, were run by cruises using a towed underwater video camera system called C-BASS collecting benthic and pelagic data including depth, salinity, temperature, chlorophyll, red beam C and light backscatter. These cruises were part of a larger project called the Continental Shelf Characterization Assessment and Mapping Project. This thesis furthers current literature of C- BASS data, asks what trends are present within environmental factors in the Elbow, and documents water conditions along the Elbow, which may aid in future research as the global climate changes and help understand the environmental factors that cause the Elbow to be such a popular fish spot. Comparing a variety of GIS interpolation techniques such as Empirical Bayesian kriging, EBK 3D, and spline with barriers, this thesis is able to provide insights into methods adequate for analysis of C-BASS and oceanographic data. Spline with barriers provided the most visually comprehensive maps, and EBK 3D provided the most accurate statistical evaluation of its methods. These results provide a good baseline for future comparison, as well as a more holistic understanding of the Elbow’s environmental factors which draw to it both fish and fishermen alike.

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