In early June of 2019, I had the amazing opportunity to set sail on the R/V Manta with NOAA-AOML scientists to a permanent monitoring site in the East Bank region of the Flower Garden Banks, a remote region ~90 miles from Galveston, TX. Not only did we survey the benthic, fish, and bioeroding invertebrate communities, but we also 1) cored massive coral colonies, 2) assessed recruitment, 3) deployed loggers to record temperature, pH, and a variety of other parameters to assess whether the reefs are actually continuing to grow (accretion) or whether they are slowly disintegrating as a result of climate change and other anthropogenic factors. NOAA’s FGB website is a great source of information about this special region, and I have always been impressed by the high-quality science that gets carried out there.

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Six permanent transects and a ton of instruments+loggers.

Six permanent transects and a ton of instruments+loggers.

Best of Flower Garden Banks photos