NOAA's Flower Garden Banks National Marine Sanctuary

NOAA's Flower Garden Banks National Marine Sanctuary Healthiest coral reefs in the Gulf, located 115 miles off the Texas/Louisiana coastline

👏 Give a round of applause to Misty Lopez, a NOAA Experiential Research and Training Opportunity (NERTO) NOAA Center for...
08/13/2026

👏 Give a round of applause to Misty Lopez, a NOAA Experiential Research and Training Opportunity (NERTO) NOAA Center for Coastal and Marine Ecosystems (CCME-II) scholar who joined the sanctuary this summer for her research project.

Misty recently attended the NOAA Educational Partnership Program (EPP) 12th Biennial Education and Science Forum at The City College of New York, where she presented her graduate research to students, faculty, and NOAA professionals from NOAA EPP institutions during a poster session.

Her poster was titled "Biodiversity, Distribution, and Environmental Drivers of Amphipod Communities in the Gulf of America and Laguana Madre." Her work this summer outlined the importance of amphipods in the food chain, looked at characterizing the diversity and community structure of amphipods, and contributed to the DNA barcode reference library for amphipods.

Misty won 1st place for Best Poster Presentation in her category for Coastal Readiness, Intelligence, and Applied Science Integration, where she was recognized for her research and commitment to advancing NOAA's mission through coastal and marine science.

📷 Courtesy of Misty Lopez

Sanctuary Saturday at the Moody Gardens Aquarium Pyramid this Saturday! Join us to learn more about how we are working w...
08/06/2026

Sanctuary Saturday at the Moody Gardens Aquarium Pyramid this Saturday!

Join us to learn more about how we are working with the Friends of Flower Garden Banks to connect the sanctuary to the community.

🐟 Sanctuary Saturday—Friends of Flower Garden Banks
📆 August 8, 2026, at 1 p.m.
📍 Moody Gardens Aquarium Pyramid in Galveston, Texas, in front of the Coral Rescue Lab

📷 G.P. Schmahl/NOAA

The Water’s Edge. The place where two worlds meet.For this category of the Get Into Your Sanctuary Photo Contest, we inv...
08/05/2026

The Water’s Edge. The place where two worlds meet.

For this category of the Get Into Your Sanctuary Photo Contest, we invite you to capture the connection between land and water. From tidepools, beaches, and shoreline habitats at the edge of national marine sanctuaries to above- and below-the-surface perspectives that reveal both worlds at once.

Visit sanctuaries.noaa.gov/photo-contest.html and follow NOAA Office of National Marine Sanctuaries to learn more!



📷 Bruce Sudweeks at NOAA's Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary

From July 27 to 29, 2026, invasive lionfish were removed from East Flower Garden Bank, West Flower Garden Bank, Stetson ...
08/04/2026

From July 27 to 29, 2026, invasive lionfish were removed from East Flower Garden Bank, West Flower Garden Bank, Stetson Bank, and surrounding artificial reefs as part of a Lionfish Invitational LLC citizen science removal cruise!

157 lionfish were removed during the three days, saving thousands of native species from being consumed by lionfish.

These cruises bring together scientists and concerned citizens to not just remove the invasive fish but also participate in research projects with scientists from NOAA, TPWD, and Texas A&M University at Galveston. One more removal cruise is scheduled in September 2026.

Learn more about the Lionfish Invitational: https://flowergarden.noaa.gov/involved/lionfishinvitational.html

📷 Lionfish Invitational LLC

How do you connect with your national marine sanctuaries? The Sanctuaries and You category of the Get Into Your Sanctuar...
07/31/2026

How do you connect with your national marine sanctuaries? The Sanctuaries and You category of the Get Into Your Sanctuary photo contest is an open call to see the sanctuaries through your eyes. Whether it is recreation, research, or everyday experiences above, below, and near the water, let’s see the unique ways you are enjoying these spectacular places!

Visit sanctuaries.noaa.gov/photo-contest.html and follow NOAA Office of National Marine Sanctuaries to learn more!

📷 Meg McWhinney at NOAA's Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary

🦈 Do you know about the LARGEST shark in the ocean?Whale sharks (Rhincodon typus) are known to be not only the largest s...
07/30/2026

🦈 Do you know about the LARGEST shark in the ocean?

Whale sharks (Rhincodon typus) are known to be not only the largest species of shark but also the largest fish in the ocean! Unlike other large shark species, whale sharks are gentle giants of the ocean, feeding on plankton and schools of small fish, similar to whales.

While sightings are not common, whale sharks have been recorded in the late summer at East and West Flower Garden Banks, believed to be drawn in by the calm surface conditions as they cruise along gulping great quantities of plankton.

📷 Jesse Cancelmo

🦈 Looking for hammerhead sharks? Have you checked your toolbox?A school of hammerhead sharks is sometimes (jokingly) ref...
07/29/2026

🦈 Looking for hammerhead sharks? Have you checked your toolbox?

A school of hammerhead sharks is sometimes (jokingly) referred to as a toolbox. From late winter to early spring, schools of scalloped hammerheads (Sphyrna lewini) can be found moving through the Gulf, including the sanctuary. Although the reason for this behavior is not truly known, it is believed that the sharks group up for mating and/or seasonal migrations.

However, due to the seasonally rough seas in the winter and early spring, this phenomenon is rarely seen by divers in the sanctuary. Those who witness this consider themselves lucky!

📷 Jesse Cancelmo

📣 Hey, what's in that bag?This bag is carrying tools to refurbish our long-term monitoring stations at Stetson Bank!It's...
07/28/2026

📣 Hey, what's in that bag?

This bag is carrying tools to refurbish our long-term monitoring stations at Stetson Bank!

It's common to see scientific divers carry gear in bags like the green mesh one seen here. These bags allow divers to easily carry various gear needed for their dives. These stations are used to track changes to the reef over time and are marked by an eye-bolt and cattle tag so that divers can go back to the same spot year after year.

Sometimes these stations get lost or need a little TLC. That's when we go in and refurbish the sites with the tools you see here: photographs of the station, anchoring adhesive, and a caulk gun. The photographs are used to easily locate the station, and the adhesive and caulk gun are used to secure the eyebolt to the substrate.

📷 Olivia Eisenbach/NOAA

Address

4700 Avenue U, Bldg 216
Galveston, TX
77551

Opening Hours

Monday 8am - 5pm
Tuesday 8am - 5pm
Wednesday 8am - 5pm
Thursday 8am - 5pm
Friday 8am - 5pm

Telephone

+14096215151

Website

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