🪸Saving the garden in the Gulf of Mexico🐠

The Flower Garden Banks Coral Reef:

This week I’m scuba diving in the Gulf of Mexico. There is an important purpose to this. One of the healthiest coral reefs in the entire world is 100 miles off the coast of Galveston Island. It’s called the Flower Gardens. It got its name in the early 1900s. Fishermen who were above the reef saw what looked to them like a garden of flowers beneath them. Since that time, the Flower Gardens has become a protected marine sanctuary. It covers 160 square miles.

Why we’re here:

KPRC 2 is partnering with Moody Gardens and creating an hour-long documentary on the important work being done out here. Like all coral reefs, the Flower Gardens is susceptible to rising temperatures which causes bleaching. Scientists from Moody Gardens are among the teams working to protect all reefs. I’ll be sharing the incredible research as well as the extraordinary conservation efforts being done right in the Gulf of Mexico.

NOAA research:

As soon as the Flower Gardens became a marine sanctuary, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Agency (NOAA) started recording temperatures. It has 30 years of continuous temperature data in this part of the Gulf of Mexico. The data shows the Gulf has warmed 1 degree Celsius, or nearly 2 degrees Fahrenheit. We’ll show how this work is done and how vital it is to have continuous data like this.

Invasive species, Lionfish:

Lionfish are not native to the Gulf of Mexico. Theories on how they got here are people emptying their fish tanks into the water or a vessel from accidentally carrying them here from faraway places like Indonesia. Whatever reason, scientists think they were introduced into the Gulf around 2010. Since that time, they’ve become invasive to the area because of their nonstop eating. We’ll share the story of what is being done to battle this problem.

And there are more stories to tell:

I dove twice today. Once at the West Bank and again at East Bank Number 2. The West Bank surface is almost completely covered in coral. The reason the Flower Gardens is considered one of the healthiest reefs in the world is based on how much coral is here. At the East Bank, we dove down to a shutdown gas rig. Instead of removing the entire rig and killing all creatures that built a home here, a decision was made to cut it to 60 feet. We saw incredible life at this “reef rig.”

It’s only day 1. I’ll have more to share, and I can’t wait to put together the entire one-hour special coming at a later date. Thanks for reading.