The benthic communities of the West Florida Shelf (WFS) are generally under-characterized and can vary by environmental conditions. The benthic environment serves as a food source for commercially important fish and invertebrates, and it also plays an important role in nutrient cycling. Thus, the health of the WFS benthos has direct implications for tourism and recreational and commercial fishing economies. A collaborative study with the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission-Fish and Wildlife Research Institute’s Harmful Algal Bloom (FWRI-HAB) Group was conducted to establish potential relationships between the benthos and algal blooms. This study consists of broad spatial coverage from sediment grab samples and CTD data collected on an FWRI-HAB research cruise in April 2025 at 40 different locations. The sedimentology of each sample was determined with sieving and settling-tube techniques. The sediment samples that had a high count of foraminifera were analyzed by identifying the species of 300 individuals and calculating diversity indices. These indices were compared to CTD data and sedimentology data in ODV, and correlations were tested through a series of linear regression plots in R Studio. Our results show significant positive correlation between salinity and Shannon’s Diversity Index; depth and evenness; and % mud with abundance, Shannon, and evenness. We also found a significant correlation between depth and % mud. These results suggest that benthic foraminifera are more successful in offshore environments, which are generally less disturbed and are of finer grain. Establishing an understanding of WFS benthic communities and their response to various environmental factors (storms, HABs, seasonal change, pollutants, etc.) can provide insight into their role in the ecological health of the WFS.