Dr. Paul Sammarco Leads Research Team On Successful Underwater Mission
April 21, 2001Scientists and AAUS divers from such places as Minerals Management Service, NASA, LSU, the Audubon Aquarium of the Americas and LUMCON took part in Dr. Sammarco's first research cruise for 2001. The aim of the expedition was to find if oil drilling platforms around the Flower Garden Banks National Marine Sanctuary act as a surface for the larvae of hard coral to attach and grow. The "Flower Gardens" is a unique coral reef community that sits on top of a series of salt domes, which are underwater mounds rising from hundreds of feet to about 70 feet in depth. The environmental parameters are such that coral is able grow in this region, over 100 miles off the coast of Freeport, Texas. Operations took place on nine platforms.
A total of ten SCUBA divers participated in the project aboard the M/V Fling, a crew boat designed to take divers to the Flower Gardens for multiple days. The divers divided into three teams. The first installed two "settling racks" at a depth of approximately 30 feet on each platform which will be collected in one year and tested for the presence of hard coral. Another team set three 30 feet long underwater transects along the platform legs and monitored using an underwater video camera. The third team used underwater 35 mm camera, video, and slates to formulate a grid on each platform of the depth, location and genus of any hard corals found. Research took place to a depth of 80 to 120 feet.
All of these activities took place on each dive, and were completed within approximately 40 minutes. Considering the array of activities, swift currents, and the awkwardness of working underwater, the time in which tasks were completed was outstanding. According to Dr. Sammarco, the trip well-exceeded expectations. This was the first time anyone has monitored the platforms around the Flower Garden Banks National Marine Sanctuary for reef-building coral, and several were found.