Welcome to Flower Garden Banks National Marine Sanctuary

school of fish behind title Flower Garden Banks National Marine Sanctuary


	Picture yourself over 100 miles from land, in the middle of the Gulf of Mexico. At times, the seas can be very unforgiving, and the weather can turn foul in an instant. But here, in the midst of this unpredictable Gulf, lie three of the most beautiful and wild places in all the world. Manta rays, whale sharks, coral heads bigger than cars, hundreds of species of fish and invertebrates... This place teems with life!

Galveston ArtWalk

Join us once again at ArtWalk in Galveston!

Island Divers
Corner of 25th and Church Streets
Saturday, October 9
6-9 p.m.

Featured Artist: Photographer Jesse Cancelmo

Stop in and see Jesse's photographs, pick up a copy of his book "Texas Coral Reefs", and visit with sanctuary staff.

Coral Bleaching Alert

People seated around a U-shaped set of tables in a large meeting room. Photo taken from an overhead balcony. Current sea surface temperatures in the sanctuary indicate that our reefs may experience coral bleaching this summer. So far no bleaching has been seen at East and West Flower Garden Banks, but bleached fire coral was observed at Stetson Bank the week of August 23rd. (Photo: Joyce & Frank Burek, 2005)

Learn more about coral bleaching and its indicators by visiting our Coral Bleaching page.

Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill

NOAA Office of Response & Restoration is coordinating all NOAA spill response efforts. For a link to their web site and other spill-related information, visit the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill article on this web site.

Flower Garden Banks National Marine Sanctuary
4700 Avenue U, Building 216
Galveston, TX 77551
p) 409-621-5151
f) 409-621-1316
flowergarden@noaa.gov

French angelfish in foreground; large boulder corals in background. French angelfish is dinner plate size oval shaped, blue body with body scales bright yellow on their edges.