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GMI dive news

PLANO, TEXAS (June 6, 2008)

In July Dr. Tamara Lunsman, Pete Gehring, and Dr. Ken Deslarzes will be participating in the annual coral reef ecosystem monitoring at the Flower Garden Banks sponsored by USDOI/Minerals Management Service (MMS) and the Flower Garden Banks National Marine Sanctuary (FGNBMS).

GMI has been contracted by PBS&J to direct the scientific mission and to conduct the reef fish assessments. The firm has been participating in the monitoring at the Flower Gardens for the past seven years.

The Flower Gardens are located 190 km offshore Texas on the edge of the Texas-Louisiana continental shelf. They are two topographic prominences capped by lush coral reefs which rise to within 60 ft of the sea surface.

The monitoring is done to assist the MMS and the FGBNMS as they track the condition of these National treasures. Water temperature and insolation are steadily increasing during this time of the year, which triggers abundant biological activity on the reef such as the mass spawning of giant barrel sponges and fish spawning activity.

Also, the sea surface at the Flower Gardens in June and July is frequently overlain by a mixture of river and seawater which can be 30 ft deep. The river water probably originates from the annual snow melt which feeds the Mississippi and Atchafalaya rivers. The water flowing over the reef, however, is typically oceanic and clear.

The coral reefs of the FGBNMS are truly unique within the western Atlantic in that they have maintained a healthy status while many reefs of the wider Caribbean have succumbed to diseases, bleaching, and coastal development.

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