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The recently refurbished, 224-foot (68-meter) Gordon Gunter is the second largest fisheries research vessel in the United States. Before joining the NOAA fleet, the craft served on U.S. Navy ocean surveillance missions as the U.S.N.S. Relentless. In 1998 the ship was renamed the Gordon Gunter in honor of a noted expert on the marine life of the Gulf Coast, where the ship is home-ported.

Four officers, three engineers, 11 crew members, and up to 15 scientists round out the ship’s complement. The vessel is equipped with trawls, longlines, and nets to collect fish, fish larvae and eggs, crustaceans, and plankton for study. A conveyor belt delivers larger specimens straight from the ship’s working deck to its newly installed wet laboratory, which is complemented by a dry lab, a chemistry lab, and an electronics lab. The Gordon Gunter also boasts a custom-designed marine mammal observation and survey station atop its pilothouse.