This post written by Michael Studivan.

For the past 5 years, FAU Harbor Branch and the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission have been collaborating to monitor corals at the northernmost coral reef in the contiguous United States - St. Lucie Reef. Just offshore of the St. Lucie Inlet and contained within the St. Lucie Inlet Preserve State Park, the reef has been exposed to seasonal estuarine discharge. Altered hydrology in the region, coupled with increased agricultural and urban land use, have changed our coastal waters for the worse. The Voss Lab and FWC have been studying the effects of discharge waters on St. Lucie Reef corals, with the goal of informing local water management. If you are interested in getting involved, check out the Southeast Florida Coral Reef Initiative.

This latest outreach video was produced as a deliverable of Project CLOUD.

This post written by Michael Studivan.

The BLUE Gulf Film Festival is hosted by the Harte Research Institute at Texas A&M Corpus Christi and is meant to increase public awareness of marine issues and research occurring in the Gulf of Mexico. Winners' films will be screened at the Corpus Christi campus in January 2016.

​The recently-produced video documents the work conducted over two research cruises to mesophotic banks in the NW Gulf of Mexico. Our objectives were to collect benthic data in videos, photos, and coral samples with the sanctuary's Mohawk ROV, UNCW pilot team, and HBOI-designed toolsled. Once analyzed, these data will help to inform management in the proposed addition of mesophotic banks under Flower Garden Banks National Marine Sanctuary protection.

Check out the video below, or on our Youtube page. The video submitted to the film festival was renamed “Exploring Twilight Reefs of the Flower Garden Banks.” If you are in the Corpus Christi area next January, consider attending the festival to learn about some of the great research in the Gulf of Mexico!