Texas reefs boast some of world’s healthiest coral
Sheltered in a deep, cool habitat far from shore, the reefs in the Flower Garden Banks National Marine Sanctuary boast a stunning amount of coral coverage.
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VIDEO COURTESY AP
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The 1900 Great Storm Statue sits on the sea wall in Galveston, Texas, Monday, Sept. 18.3/17
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Fish swim around brain coral deep below ocean at the Flower Garden Banks National Marine Sanctuary in the Gulf of Mexico Saturday, Sept. 16. Sheltered in a deep, cool habitat far from shore, the reefs in the Flower Garden Banks boast a stunning amount of coral coverage.4/17
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A spotted moray eel pokes out from rocks and coral at the Flower Garden Banks National Marine Sanctuary, Sunday, Sept. 17.5/17
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A fish swims at the Flower Garden Banks National Marine, Sanctuary Sunday, off the coast of Galveston, Texas, Sept. 17, in the Gulf of Mexico.6/17
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A diver steps off live aboard scuba dive boat visiting the Flower Garden Banks National Marine Sanctuary in the Gulf of Mexico, Friday, Sept. 15.7/17
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Lauren Tinnes scuba dives at the he Flower Garden Banks National Marine Sanctuary in the Gulf of Mexico, Saturday, Sept. 16. Tinnes, a nurse from Colorado, described rounding a bluff on her dive this fall and being surrounded by massive reefs as schools of fish darted through. "It's like a field of flowers," she said.8/17
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Andy Lewis positions to photograph brain coral at the Flower Garden Banks National Marine Sanctuary, off the coast of Galveston, Texas, Friday, Sept. 15. He said he knew from his first trip to the sanctuary about a decade ago that it was “going to have to be part of my life.”9/17
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Bleached coral is visible at the Flower Garden Banks National Marine Sanctuary, off the coast of Galveston, Texas, in the Gulf of Mexico, Saturday, Sept. 16. The sanctuary had some moderate bleaching this year but nothing like the devastation that hit other reefs during the summer's record-breaking heat.10/17
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Bleached coral is visible during a scuba dive at the Flower Garden Banks National Marine Sanctuary in the Gulf of Mexico Sunday, Sept. 17, in the Gulf of Mexico.11/17
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Bleached coral is visible next to healthy coral during a scuba dive at the Flower Garden Banks National Marine Sanctuary, off the coast of Galveston, Texas, Friday, Sept. 15.12/17
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Fish swim at the Flower Garden Banks National Marine Sanctuary, Sunday, Sept. 17, in the Gulf of Mexico, off the coast of Galveston, Texas.13/17
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Andy Lewis and other scuba divers visit the the Flower Garden Banks National Marine Sanctuary, Friday, Sept. 15.14/17
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Bleached coral sits next to healthy coral during a scuba dive at the Flower Garden Banks National Marine Sanctuary in the Gulf of Mexico, off the coast of Galveston, Texas, Friday, Sept. 15.15/17
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Healthy brain coral is visible at the Flower Garden Banks National Marine Sanctuary on Sunday, Sept. 17, in the Gulf of Mexico, off the coast of Galveston, Texas.16/17
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Brooke Zurita, a senior biologist at Moody Gardens, cleans coral specimens at the coral rescue lab in Galveston, Texas, Monday, Sept. 18. Samples of healthy corals from the sanctuary are being banked and studied in the lab.17/17
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Under a special light, Brooke Zurita, a senior biologist at Moody Gardens, cleans coral specimens at the coral rescue lab in Galveston, Texas, Monday, Sept. 18.
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