Research, monitoring, and resource protection is accomplished using a variety of tools and technology. The videos on this page explain or show how these tools are used.
Tracking Fish Movements to Understand Habitat Connectivity in the Gulf of Mexico
(video at top of page)
Scientists are working to better understand how different fishes use habitats within Flower Garden Banks National Marine Sanctuary using acoustic and satellite telemetry to track fish movements and study fish behavior. The data will help resource managers implement effective measures to protect the habitats that these species depend on for their survival.
This project is led by Texas A&M University and represents a collaboration of 13 scientists at five different universities and two federal entities (NOAA’s Flower Garden Banks National Marine Sanctuary and the Southeast Fisheries Science Center).
Video Length: 2:09
Credit: Mississippi State University’s Marine Fish Ecology group
Using a CTD to Collect Water Samples
Four times a year, our science team collects water samples at East Flower Garden Bank, West Flower Garden Bank, and Stetson Bank using a CTD (conductivity, density, and temperature) carousel. This piece of equipment allows us to collect water at specific depths. Samples are collected from just above the reef, about halfway between the reef and the surface, and just below the surface of the water.
This video shows the lowering of a CTD carousel from R/V MANTA using a cable. Once the carousel arrives at reef depth, the covers on four of the tubes are closed via an electronic signal, trapping water from that depth inside them. (2023)
Video Length: 1:16
Credit: Ryan Hannum/FGBNMS
Installing a New Buoy
The sanctuary provides mooring buoys at East Flower Garden, West Flower Garden, and Stetson Banks to ensure vessels have a safe way to visit these areas without damaging the fragile reef communities below. Over time, these buoys become fouled (have a lot of organisms growing on them) or damaged and need to be replaced.
This video shows a diver swimming the thick, blue line of a new mooring buoy down to the reef, where he uses a heavy, metal shackle and bolt to attach it to a metal u-bolt already embedded in the reef. The diver hand tightens the nut onto the bolt. After this video, the bolt was further tightened and secured using tools, and the old mooring line was removed. (2024)
Video Length: 0:53
Credit: FGBNMS
Long-Term Monitoring
Every year, sanctuary researchers collect long-term monitoring data on the reefs of Flower Garden Banks National Marine Sanctuary. This includes running photo transects, taking repetitive photo station images, and fish surveys, among other activities. And, of course, random observations of what is happening during these dives. (2013)
0:00-0:05 Title page - NOAA's Flower Garden Banks National Marine Sanctuary, East and West FGB Long Term Monitoring, 2013
0:05-0:11 A Chub (Kyphosus sp.) swimming up to the camera.
0:11-0:21 A scuba diver with a long t-frame camera setup taking a photo at a repetitive photo station on the reef.
0:21-0:31 A scuba diver laying a random transect line by unreeling a measuring tap across the reef in a specified direction.
0:31-0:38 Moving along a transect line as it lays across the reef.
0:38-0:47 A scuba diver with a short t-frame camera setup taking photos at a specific point along a reef transect, then picking up to move further down the line.
0:47-0:54 A scuba diver swimming in the midst of a school of Bar Jacks (Caranx ruber) over the reef.
0:54-1:03 A large invasive Lionfish (Pterois volitans) hovering just above the reef.
1:03-1:18 A scuba diver using a Hawaiian sling spear to capture a large invasive Lionfish (Pterois volitans) then stuff it into a PVC tube, called a Zookeeper, for safe keeping.
Video Length: 1:18
Credit: Emma Hickerson/FGBNMS
Mohawk ROV - Maiden Voyage
This video shows the Mohawk Remotely Operated Vehicle (ROV) on its inaugural voyage along the reef cap at the Flower Garden Banks. Divers were in the water with the ROV to take video and still images and make sure it was operating properly. (October 2013)
ROVs are essential tools for exploring beyond conventional scuba depths. They can stay down longer and cover much more territory before returning to the research vessel.
0:00-0:06 Title page - National Marine Sanctuary Foundation, University of North Carolina-Wilmington's Undersea Vehicles Program and Flower Garden Banks National Marine Sanctuary are proud new owners, operators and users of an R.E.T. Mohawk Remotely Operated Vehicle.
0:06-0:21 Side view of the ROV maneuvering above the reef with the umbilical line trailing it to the left.
0:21-0:29 View from the other side of the ROV as it maneuvers over the reef with the umbilical line trailing to the right.
0:29-0:38 Front view of the ROV with the umbilical line rising behind it.
0:38-0:48 Front view of the ROV up in the water column with the umbilical line rising behind it and several fish swimming in the background.
0:48-0:55 The ROV and umbilical line underneath the hull of R/V MANTA with a scuba diver nearby taking photos.
0:55-1:01 Credits - National Marine Sanctuary Foundation provided funding for the purchase of this vehicle. Footage taken by Emma L. Hickerson at the Flower Garden Banks National Marine Sanctuary during the ROV's inaugural voyage October 28, 2013.
Video Length: 1:01
Credit: Emma Hickerson/FGBNMS