Macroinfauna and sediment data from swash zones of sandy beaches along the SE Gulf of Mexico and SE Florida coast, 2010-2011 in response to the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill (NCEI Accession 0083190)

At each site, sampling was conducted using sediment cores (10cm diameter, 20cm deep) and all sampling was conducted within 2 hrs of low tide. Cores were collected within an approximately 100m linear distance parallel to the shoreline at each site.

Some sites were intensively sampled across 3 subareas of the swash zone: high (near maximum wave run-up), mid, and low (near maximum wave back-wash) swash. Core contents were washed through a 1mm mesh and contents retained on the sieve were returned to the laboratory and frozen at 4oC. In the laboratory, samples were sorted and all macroinfauna removed.