Just one hundred and ten miles south of the Texas-Louisiana border,
beneath the waters of the Gulf of Mexico, lie two coral reefs, together
called the Flower Garden Banks. This coral community, the
northernmost reef system in the United States and a national marine
sanctuary, is home to hundreds of kinds of fish and other tropical sea
life. Manta rays and turtles visit regularly, as do whale sharks and
schools of hammerhead sharks. Other wonders include the annual
mass coral spawns and a briny depression called Gollum Lake.
Nearby are two other reefs. Stetson Bank, its top spotted with hard
corals, mollusks, and sponges, is known for its diversity—from black
sea hares to golden smooth trunkfish. At Geyer Bank, thousands of
butterfly fish dominate a huge population of tropical fish whose
density rivals that of the coral reefs in the South Pacific.
Protruding from the flat, muddy continental shelf, these and thirty
other natural reefs support an exceptional amount and variety of sea
life in Texas waters. They sit amid hundreds of oil and gas platforms,
which create their own special reef ecosystems.
These reefs, equal in their profusion of life and color to the storied
reefs of Florida and Hawaii, have not been widely known to Texans
outside of a small group of scientists and divers. With extraordinary
photographs and a knowledgeable first-person narrative, author Jesse
Cancelmo instills an appreciation for the beauty and fragility of one
of the state's least-known natural environments. Texas Coral Reefs
will inspire adventurers—both the underwater and armchair
varieties—to enjoy these spectacular but little-known sites that lie so
close to home.
_________________________________________________________
JESSE CANCELMO is an accomplished underwater photographer
and photojournalist. His articles and photos have appeared in diving
and wildlife publications, and he is the author of two diving guides.
Cancelmo, who lives in Houston, leads diving tour groups in the
Caribbean and Pacific and is a contributing writer and photographer
for Dive Training Magazine.
Number Thirteen: Gulf Coast Studies, sponsored by Texas A&M
University–Corpus Christi
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