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Investigation of East Flower Garden Bank coral die-off continues amid new coral bleaching event

Scientists documenting the bleaching event underway in Flower Garden Banks National Marine Sanctuary. Photo: G.P. Schmahl/NOAA.
Scientists documenting the bleaching event underway in Flower Garden Banks National Marine Sanctuary. Photo: G.P. Schmahl/NOAA.
From the NOAA Marine Sanctuaries website…
Scientists continue to explore a broad spectrum of possible causes for July’s mass mortality event at East Flower Garden Bank within Flower Garden Banks National Marine Sanctuary, including environmental conditions and human activities. Meanwhile, their efforts are now complicated by a new but unrelated coral bleaching event, which can happen this time of year when corals are stressed by warmer water temperatures.
A preliminary review of vessel traffic data revealed a lack of vessels in the vicinity just before the mortality event. This effectively rules out the possibility of an acute discharge of pollutants as the cause of the die-off. Earlier analyses indicated that no hydrocarbons were present in the area of the mortality, which further reduces the likelihood that the event was due to some sort of petroleum-based contamination.
Ongoing response efforts are now focused on additional analysis of oceanographic dynamics (see animation below) and water quality. NOAA research divers conducting additional response surveys earlier this month observed dead sponges in other locations around East Flower Garden Bank and on a nearby production platform just outside the boundary of Flower Garden Banks National Marine Sanctuary. The die-off and whatever caused it, therefore, may have been more widespread than initially thought. [READ MORE]

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Dive Mom Is a Guest on Great Day Houston

Dive Mom, Ann Keibler, was Debra Duncan’s guest on Great Day Houston on Monday talking about scuba diving and scuba dive training. She was joined in the audience by some of Oceanic Venture’s Junior Scuba Divers including Yasmine, Andrew and Ethan as well as their diving mother Ester.

great day houston


Ann met Debra Duncan at another event, the St Luke’s Foundation’s Friends of Nursing luncheon, sponsored by Neiman Marcus. Oceanic Ventures and the Cayman Island Department of Tourism were sponsors of the raffle at the event which raised money for the nursing program at CHI St Lukes’s hospital. Debra was the Master-of-Ceremonies and introduced the really cool prize. Ann and Tina Hogson from the Cayman Islands Department of Tourism, were on hand to help her understand the prize and to answer any questions about Grand Cayman both from the MC as well as the guests.

If you missed Ann’s appearance, you can replay it here…

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Scuba Diver Receives 2015 Volunteer of the Year

jesseOne of our clients, Jesse Cancelmo, was honoured this year as the 2015 Volunteer of the Year by the Office of the National Marine Sanctuaries.  Jessie is a big supporter of diving at the Flower Gardens National Marine Sanctuary as well as around the world.  He has published several books of his photographs and appears as a guest contributor to Dive Training Magazine.  He will also be joining us on one of our Indonesia trips this year.  Congratulations Jesse!  The press release follows…

Scuba Diver Receives 2015 Volunteer of the Year

Every year the Office of National Marine Sanctuaries asks each sanctuary to select a volunteer of the year. These 14 people are then recognized at the annual Capitol Hill Ocean Week celebration.
For 2015, Flower Garden Banks National Marine Sanctuary selected long-time sanctuary supporter Jesse Cancelmo.
Jesse first got involved in activities at the Flower Garden Banks in 1989, before it was designated a sanctuary. He was part of the team that installed the original mooring buoys and helped advocate for sanctuary designation.
As a journalist and underwater photographer he has introduced many others to the sanctuary and encouraged their support of this special place.
Jesse has also served as a recreational diving representative on the Sanctuary Advisory Council since 2011, including terms as Vice Chair, then Chair of the council.
Congratulations, Jesse, on many jobs well-done! We appreciate your dedication to the sanctuary for so many years.

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The Flower Gardens

FGNMS Photo
Photo Credit : FGNMS

The Flower Gardens – The Bigger Picture

[From Kelly Drinnin, NOAA Nationl Marine Sanctuary] If you’ve never been to the Flower Garden Banks sanctuary, you’ve probably never thought about what makes it the way it is. Two of the key elements are salt domes and currents.
Salt domes are small underwater mountains formed by large pockets of salt pushing the sea floor upward. These are the “banks” in the sanctuary name.  Without these, the sea floor would be too deep to support reef-building corals out near the edge of the continental shelf.
The Gulf loop current is what brings wildlife up from the Caribbean, past Cuba and the Yucatan, into the Gulf of Mexico. Eddies that break away from that current, swirl westward across the gulf and carry with them many of the Caribbean fish and invertebrates found around our reefs. Other currents swirl clockwise from the Yucatan past Texas and Louisiana and are the likely source of our corals.
Of course, water temperature, freshwater input, artificial reef structures, etc. all play roles in how our reefs came to be and how they continue to develop.
The sanctuary is an amazing place that is the happy combination of all the right things, in the right places, at the right times!  To learn more…

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Fluorecense Scuba Diving

Music Set to Video of Night Diving

[From Kelly Drinnin at the NOAA National Marine Sanctuary] A marine biologist investigating fluorescence in corals took some intriguing night dive video at Flower Garden Banks National Marine Sanctuary. That video is now couple to a 23-minute music jam from a group called Animal Collective.

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Coral Locations in the Gulf Of Mexico

Gulf Council Publishes Known Coral Locations in Gulf

gulf corals[News release from Kelly Drinnin at the NOAA Marine Sanctuary] Coral reefs are a crucial foundation for many of the marine species living in the Gulf of Mexico. They provide food, shelter, and nursery grounds to a seemingly endless list of fish, shellfish, marine mammals, and other inhabitants. Many of the fish we target as commercial or recreational fishermen spend some part of their life on a reef feeding, growing, or seeking shelter   that s why these habitats are so important.
Unfortunately, coral reefs, their health, and abundance, are threatened by many things including; oil spills, ocean acidification, climate change, and rising ocean temperatures. Advances in technology such as satellite imagery and remote sensors that monitor the ever-changing ocean environment have allowed scientists to better understand the factors threatening coral reefs. Identifying coral communities allows for better management against the many threats posed on corals.
The coral web mapper created by the Gulf Council allows scientists, managers, and the public to explore the different corals in the Gulf of Mexico.
The five categories of corals/organisms that are depicted on the map tool are:

  •   Black Coral
  •   Octocoral
  •   Sea Pen
  •   Soft Coral
  •   Sponge
  •   Stony Coral

Check out the map tool to explore this comprehensive inventory of known coral locations in the Gulf of Mexico. See the map here.
SOURCE: Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council