The Flower Garden Banks National Marine Sanctuary (FGBNMS) has been exploring the deepwater communities of the Flower Garden Banks NMS, and other sites in the Northwestern Gulf of Mexico (NWGOM) since 2001. The cruises have primarily utilized remotely operated vehicles (ROV) to gain access to these mesophotic depths. To date, the sanctuary and its partners have conducted thirteen cruises to explore and characterize the mesophotic habitats, resulting in the collection of over 9,000 georeferenced images, more than 200 hours of video footage, and over 250 directed samples.

During each research cruises, annotations were recorded while observing the ROVs live video feed. The high resolution digital still images have been inventoried and species identifications made to the lowest possible level, and are available spatially through GIS based mapping files. Biology is being linked to taxonomy through the collection of voucher specimens. These samples have been photographed insitu on the seafloor, then collected and identified using traditional and scanning electron microscope (SEM) morphological identification by experts in various fields. This sampling effort has led to the development of regional species catalogs for the major biological components: antipatharians, octocorals, fish, sponges, and invertebrates identification posters are currently available. (more information).

For more information and georeferenced ROV track information and a selection of images for the cruises, please visit the National Coastal Data Development Center (NCDDC) Interactive Map. This is a part of a continuing effort to characterize the Mesophotic habitat of the Northwestern Gulf of Mexico, with additional research expeditions planned for 2010 and 2011.