I’m so excited for Thursday night, our TV special, Garden in the Gulf: A Reef Rescue Mission, is airing on KPRC 2!
Back in July, I hopped on a boat called The Fling and headed 100 miles offshore to scuba dive and see the amazing reef restoration work (firsthand) done by Moody Gardens and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). The work being done is incredible!
If you missed last week’s story, you can catch up here.
But before the big show airs Thursday, I wanted to give you a quick preview of what’s coming. You won’t want to miss it.
Life on an oil rig:
You might be surprised to learn there’s an old oil rig sitting right inside the boundaries of the Flower Garden Banks National Marine Sanctuary called High Island 389. The rig was already there when the area became protected, and the plan was to remove it once it was decommissioned.
But that’s not quite how it went.
Friends of the Sanctuary stepped in and pushed to keep part of the rig in place. Everyone loved the idea! In 2018, the top of the structure was removed, but the rest stayed. And once you see the photos below, you’ll understand why.
I got to dive there, 70 feet underwater, and it was absolutely incredible. The entire structure is alive with colorful coral and fish everywhere, just teeming with life. What really hit me, though, was looking down. The platform stretches all the way to 410 feet. It’s like staring into the abyss; beautiful and just a little eerie. The picture below doesn’t capture High Island 389’s true beauty.
Studying coral cores:
One of the coolest things scientists are doing is digging into the history of the Gulf.
Last week, we looked at how photo stations and continuous monitoring gear have given us a 35-year window into reef life. But what about further back, 50, 100, even 400 years ago?
Turns out, coral has a memory.
Just like tree rings, coral skeletons hold a record of the past. Scientists take coral cores, basically long tubes drilled from living coral, and study the layers. These layers reveal what the water was like back in the 1600s.
You can even spot the exact year the atomic bomb was dropped. How wild is that?
My last dive:
My last dive was the deepest and definitely the strangest looking.
It’s a site called Stetson, and the only way I can describe it is like walking on the moon. I’ve never actually walked on the moon, but I’m sure we’ve all seen those iconic moon images: gray, rocky, a little surreal. That’s exactly what Stetson looks like.
At 95 feet down, you’re suddenly in this otherworldly landscape. You feel weightless, and that sensation, combined with the strange terrain really does feel like a moonwalk.
It’s unforgettable.
Are you free Thursday night?
Moody Gardens is hosting a watch party and I’d love for you to join me! This is from the Moody Gardens invitation:
“This special highlights vital coral reef conservation efforts by the Moody Gardens Dive Team, in collaboration with NOAA, to help preserve the Flower Garden Banks National Marine Sanctuary in the Gulf. Viewers will gain insight into the progress being made to protect these reefs, uncover the environmental stories hidden within coral cores, and explore the challenges posed by invasive species like lionfish. These ongoing conservation efforts could help rehabilitate living coral reefs around the world, which continue to suffer from the impacts of a growing global population and a changing climate.”
This picture shows part of the Moody Gardens dive team.
Something to think about:
Chris Ledford, the Moody Gardens Aquarium Dive Officer, said something that really stuck with me about conservation and our future role in it.
“There’s an ongoing conversation that we have missed our opportunity to do conservation. We can’t just try and minimize our impact,” he said. “We have to be active participants in fixing the damage that we have done. So that’s where the things like the coral transplants are happening, actively removing the lionfish, the invasive species.
“We can’t take a backseat, and just say okay, we’re going to be hands off and we’re going to try and not mess things up anymore,” Chris added. “We’ve moved past that; we’ve missed that opportunity to have that be effective, so we need to be proactive and try to create better habitats that are more resilient in the future.”
This is Chris getting video at High Island 389.
How to watch:
Tune in to KPRC 2 on Thursday night April 24 at 7:00 p.m. for “GARDEN IN THE GULF: A REEF RESCUE MISSION”
On your phone, computer, or tablet, you can also watch on www.click2houston.com/watchlive or through the KPRC 2+ mobile app.
Download the free KPRC 2+ mobile app to watch anytime (click2houston.com)
See you Thursday night!
