I had a great trip out to the Flower Gardens (Flower Garden Banks National Marine Sanctuary- about 110 miles off the Texas-Louisiana coasts) this weekend. I was working as a DM on the Spree. We saw mantas, hammerheads, tiger sharks, spotted eagle rays, and a large school of king mackerel, along with the usual assortment of reef fish and creatures. Some of the passengers spotted a large Goliath Grouper, which is a very welcome newcomer to the reef cap at the East Bank. I didn't get to see the GG as I was diving elsewhere doing a working dive (a pretty cool dive on a weather buoy outside the normal dive area that might merit a separate blog entry). The weather was remarkably cooperative for February in the Gulf of Mexico - we had flat seas going in and coming back, with just a bit of wind and seas on Friday afternoon and evening.
I made a fun dive on Stetson Bank, and was bummed to find a net laying on the bottom. Though not nearly as large as the one in Revillagigedos, it was another ugly reminder of how our species is treating the ocean. Fortunately, it was not spread out and so wasn't trapping any creatures, and was only partly caught on the reef, so I hauled it up. Some pictures:
Net on Stetson Bank
Net on it's way out
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