Flower Garden Banks National Marine Sanctuary
Located 80–125 miles off the Texas and Louisiana coast and initially designated in 1992 to protect East and West Flower Garden Banks, Flower Garden Banks National Marine Sanctuary was expanded in 1996 to include Stetson Bank and then 14 additional banks in 2021, increasing its size to 160 square miles.
TOUR OF DUTY DATE:
August 2025
SCIENTIFIC PARTNERS:
Flower Garden Banks NMS
Texas A&M (Galveston)
OBJECTIVES:
- Conduct SCUBA operations at West Flower Garden Bank (WFGB) for the 2025 annual coral spawning field effort.
- Collect high-quality imagery documenting the spawning event, coral spawn surveys, and general sanctuary imagery.
- Install a mooring buoy at WFGB and collect coral fragments for the Texas A&M Galveston coral spawning laboratory.
RESULTS:
Five (5) FORCE BLUE veterans installed a new mooring buoy within the sanctuary, immediately facilitating invasive lionfish removal by permitted vessels. Additionally, the team collected 10 coral colonies to start the Coral Spawning Lab at Texas A&M Galveston. While the mass spawning event that was predicted was not observed on this cruise, that information is nonetheless important to calibrating the spawning schedule created by coral scientists. Indeed, the collected corals were observed to spawn in the lab approximately a month after the initial predictions, providing additional valuable information on coral reproduction following bleaching events.
COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT:
Force Blue assisted Flower Garden Banks National Marine Sanctuary staff with their regular Education and Outreach event at Moody Gardens Aquarium. During this “Sanctuary Saturday,” FGBNMS staff and Force Blue discussed coral reef ecology, the importance of corals, and the significance of the annual coral spawn with aquarium visitors.
