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The majority of information contained on this page represents a summary of Gulf explorations as described by Galtsoff (1954), and Darnell and Defenbaugh (1990). Works cited within these documents are noted as appropriate.

1494 - Columbus' second voyage takes him to the western end of Cuba, but he does not enter the Gulf of Mexico.

1500 - First map showing the Gulf of Mexico. Juan de la Cosa utilizes information from the voyages of Columbus (1492,1493,1498), Vespucci (1497,1498), and Cabot (1497,1498) to create this map of the new world. The Gulf of Mexico is clearly visible on this chart although it is not named and is partially covered by an inset drawing.

1502 - Alberto Cantino produces a map of the world. The western portion of the map shows for the first time the west coast of Florida and the adjacent part of the Gulf.

1507 - German cartographer Waldseemüller produces a map of the world showing the new world labeled as "America", in honor of Amerigo Vespucci.

1500-1510 - The Gulf of Mexico and western Caribbean remain relatively unexplored as exploration focuses on the eastern Caribbean.

1513 - Ponce de León officially discovers Florida and sails southward to the Florida Keys and the Dry Tortugas.

1516 - Diego Miruelo explores Florida.

1517 - The explorers recorded many bays, harbors, and points along the eastern coast of Mexico and eventually ended at and named the Bay of Campeche. Greater than 500 miles of the coast were mapped and although Cordoba was fatally injured, the end of the journey confirmed an open passage between the Yucatán and Florida, making future voyages much easier.

1518 - Alaminos and Juan de Grijalva sail to the Yucatán and discover Isla de Santa Cruz, presently Isla de Cozumel. Sailing north, they enter and name the Boca de Términos (Laguna de Términos). They then travel >1000 miles along the coast to present-day Tampico, recording many bays and rivers, and making very accurate estimates of latitude. Other hydrographical information such as current observations and depth soundings are also made.

1519 - Alaminos and Hernando Cortés further explore Laguna de Términos. Sailing north past Tampico they discover a large river which they name Río Grande de Pánuco.

Don Alonzo Álvarez de Pineda explores the west coast of Florida and the northern coast of the Gulf of Mexico. He encounters a large river which he names Rio del Espiritu Santu. He names the water east of the river delta "Mar Pequeña" and describes the character of the coastline including dunes, sandspits, bays, marshes, and oyster beds. Although most agree that the river encountered by Pineda was the Mississippi (Harrisse, 1900), some argue that he actually explored present-day Mobile Bay (Scaife, 1892). Regardless, Pineda's expedition provided a great deal of knowledge about the outline of the Gulf coast and resulted in the production of a new map, "Traza de Costas de Tierra Firme y las Tierras Nuevas" in 1521.

1521 - Ponce de León explores Florida and is killed in Charlotte Harbor. The expedition fails to increase knowledge of the Gulf of Mexico.

1528 - Pánfilo de Narvárez and Cabeza de Vaca sail north to Florida from Cuba and take shelter from a storm in Bahia de Santa Cruz, present-day Tampa Bay. A land party is dispatched and the Apalachicola River is discovered. After many years and much hardship, Cabeza de Vaca returns to Europe in 1536. During his time on the continent he was able to travel west and document the Mississippi River, explore Tampa Bay, and greatly increase geographical knowledge of the area.

1538 - Using information from explorations made in the early 1500's, Mercator develops a map of the new world and applies the name "America" to the entire continent.

1539-1542 - Fernando de Soto travels to Apalachee Bay and sends Diego Maldenado further north where he discovers Pensacola Bay. The expedition sails west to Mobile and then travels north over land and crosses the Mississippi River near present-day Memphis, Tennessee. This confirms the idea that the Mississippi was a river draining from a large continent. De Soto perishes in 1542, and the party returns to Mobile where they make the first record of tar/asphalt deposits on gulf beaches (Garcilaso de la Vega 1605).

1564 - Jacques LeMoyne produces a map of Florida and the eastern Gulf of Mexico using a great deal of information borrowed from Spanish explorers.

1591 - A map of the Gulf is published by DeBry and is used by the Dutch and French for 50 years, but ignored by the Spanish.

Early 1600's Limited advancement in knowledge of the Gulf of Mexico.

1673 - Frenchmen Louis Joliet and Father Marquette attempt to travel the Mississippi from Lake Michigan south, but stop at the Arkansas River.

1684 - LaSalle attempts to establish a colony at the Mississippi delta but misses and lands at Matagorda Bay, Texas instead. LaSalle's sketch of the bay, including soundings, was later reproduced by Dunn (1917).

1686 - Spanish attempts to seek out and destroy French colonies result in a great expansion of knowledge of the Gulf.

1693 - Rediscovery of Pensacola Bay. Admiral Pez and Dr. Carlos de Siguenza y Gongora describe the configuration, depths, islands, and rivers of Pensacola Bay.

1719 - Frenchman Guillaume Delisle produces a chart of Louisiana and the Mississippi river. First mention of Texas in writing (Los Teijas). The Delisle map later became a major reference for cartographers (Kohl, 1857).

Lemoyne de Sérigny observes the northern Gulf coast and produces a map of Pensacola Bay including currents and tidal ranges.

1720 - French engineer Bernard de la Harpe is dispatched to the newly established city of New Orleans. Many of his observations are incorporated into the de Beauvilliers map of 1720 which shows streams, mountains, towns, and villages along the Gulf coast, and islands off the Yucatán.

1733 - The British produce, "A Map of the British Empire in America with the French and Spanish Settlements adjacent thereto".

1746 - Don José Antonio de Villaseñor y Sanchez produces a map for the Spanish, "Icomismo hidroterro ó Mapa Geographico de la America Septentrional".

1742 - Jacques Nicolas Bellin conducts a detailed survey of the Louisiana coast and the course of the Mississippi River. He also constructs a detailed plan of Pensacola Bay. In 1754 his map of the Gulf is published in Prévost's "Histoire générale des voyages" (1736-89). Maps of the western Gulf are still lacking.

1764 - George Gauld is ordered to construct an Admiralty chart of West Florida and Louisiana.

1774 - Captain Bernard Romans develops a chart of East and West Florida, and includes a list of native plants and fishes (Romans, 1776).

1775 - Map of the British and French dominions in North America published in London by John Mitchell. The map is used by American and British diplomats at the Paris Peace Conference (1782-83) but shows only a small portion of the northern Gulf.

1800's - Significant progress is made in Gulf of Mexico geography. Charts and maps become quite accurate. Don Juan Langára produces one of the best charts of the time in 1805.

1816-1843 - The first U.S. Coast Survey is conducted, but contains no information pertaining to the Gulf coast.

1839 - U.S.S. Vandalia conducts a hydrographic research cruise between Galveston, TX and the southwest pass of the Mississippi River.

1845 - U.S. Coast Survey commences a study of the Gulf coast charting the major geographical features, water circulation, and bottom composition. The study continues as the U.S. Coast and Geodetic Survey.

1850 - Louis Agassiz begins a biological survey of the reefs and the topography of Florida (Agassiz, 1880).

1856 - Laurie's map of the Gulf is produced in London and a similar chart appears in a French navigational manual for the Gulf and Caribbean. Both are highly accurate and the French chart includes indications of prevailing currents (Kerhallet, 1853).

1858 - Maury's (1858) book on the physical geography of the sea contains only a brief mention of the waters of the Gulf.

1867 - Dredging of deep-sea bottom waters between Florida and Cuba is conducted aboard U.S. Coast Survey ships Corwin and Bibb. Results in many new biological records (Pourtalés, 1863-69).

1875-1878 - Lt. Commander Sigsbee explores the Gulf aboard the U.S. Coast Survey vessel Blake. The three cruises of the Blake (1877-1880) become a pivotal event in Gulf exploration. Alexander Agassiz (1888) conducts a study of the structure and origin of coral reefs, and of the distribution of fishes and invertebrates at depths of up to 2000 fathoms. Collections obtained from the Blake expeditions are used in studies of corals, antipatharians, crinoids, crustaceans, echinoderms, hydroids, annelids, mollusks, and many other organisms. (Pourtalés, 1870, 1880; A. Agassiz 1878, 1883; Clarke, 1879; Ehlers, 1879; Dall, 1880, 1886, 1889).

1883 - The recently established U.S. Commission of Fish and Fisheries (1871) orders the construction of the 1,000-ton steamer Albatross which, upon returning from the Caribbean, was ordered to conduct observations in the Gulf of Mexico.

1884 - Albatross commences two years of exploration and research in the Gulf, including studies of fishery resources (Stearns 1884, 1887; Collins,1896-1898). U.S. Commission of Fish and Fisheries steamer Fish Hawk surveys oyster beds in Apalachicola Bay, St. George Sound, Florida (Swift, 1897), and the inshore waters of Alabama.

1901-1903 - Fish Hawk conducts sponge studies on the west coast of Florida and the Florida Keys.

1902 - The Gulf Biologic Station is established on the banks of Calcasieu Pass, Cameron, Louisiana. Research at the laboratory focuses on oysters, scallops, and clams in the waters of Louisiana. The station is abandoned in 1912 but publishes the Bulletin of the Gulf Biologic Station from 1902-1910.

1904 - The Carnegie Institution of Washington, D.C. establishes a marine lab at Loggerhead Key, Dry Tortugas. The Papers from Tortugas Laboratory contain some of the most prolific early knowledge of marine life in the Gulf.

1905-1913 - Fish Hawk conducts surveys in Matagorda Bay, Texas (Moore, 1907), Mississippi Sound (Moore, 1913a; 1913b), and Lavaca Bay, Texas (Moore and Danglade, 1915).

1914 - Soley (1914) summarizes hydrographical data from the Gulf on a chart entitled, "The Gulf Stream in the Gulf of Mexico". The chart shows the Sigsbee Deep, the direction of primary and countercurrents, and the Central Sea.

1917 - U.S. Bureau of Fisheries research ship Grampus conducts a study of the shrimp grounds from Key West to Aransas Pass, TX (U.S. Bureau of Fish., 1919).

1926 - Oyster bottoms of Texas bays are surveyed by Galtsoff (1931).

1929 - Pearson (1929) emphasizes the relationship between the Gulf and its inland waters in a study of estuary related fishes and shrimp.

1932 - The Yale oceanographic vessel Mabel Taylor investigates the relationship between the Gulf waters and the Yucatan and Florida Straits (Parr, 1935).

1934 - The Wood's Hole Oceanographic Institution ship Atlantis conducts observations in the Caribbean, Gulf, and adjacent straits (Parr, 1937a, 1937b).

1935 - The U.S. Bureau of Fisheries establishes a temporary laboratory at Apalachicola Bay. The lab is moved to Pensacola in 1937.

1936-1939 - First detailed work on the hydrography of Texas waters (Collier and Hedgpeth, 1950).

1942 University of Miami establishes a marine lab at Coral Gables, Florida.

1947 - The Atlantis (WHOI) surveys 551 stations in the western Gulf between the Sigsbee Deep and the Louisiana-Texas coast.

The Gulf Coast Research Lab is established at Ocean Springs, Mississippi.

1948 - University of Texas establishes the Marine Science Institute at Port Aransas, TX.

1949 The Texas Game, Fish, and Oyster Commission is established in Rockport, TX.

1950's - Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution issues a detailed chart of the western Gulf of Mexico using data obtained from the Atlantis cruises and other sources (U.S. Coast Survey, etc.)

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service / National Marine Fisheries Service initiates a comprehensive study of oceanography and fishery resources in the Gulf using the vessels USS Oregon and USS Alaska.

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Fishery Bulletin 89 (Galtsoff, 1954) summarizes current scientific knowledge of the Gulf of Mexico.

The American Petroleum Institute sponsors extensive investigations of the Texas-Louisiana coast continental shelf (Shepard, 1960).

1960-1990 - Numerous marine laboratories and associated institutions are established along the Gulf coast. In addition to continued study by independent researchers, a number of large multidisciplinary investigations are undertaken to explore the Gulf. Darnell and Defenbaugh (1990) summarize the major studies of the past 30 years.