September 10, 2026

NCRMP Completes Biennial Coral Reef Monitoring in the Sanctuary 

The 2026 National Coral Reef Monitoring Program (NCRMP) mission to survey fish and benthic communities in Flower Garden Banks National Marine Sanctuary is now complete. Flower Garden Banks National Marine Sanctuary is one of 10 priority areas identified for monitoring by NOAA’s National Coral Reef Monitoring Program through an ongoing project, which is funded by NOAA’s Coral Reef Conservation Program and NOAA’s RESTORE Science Program. 

Five dive teams—a total of 26 divers from NOAA and partnering organizations—assessed and recorded the status of coral reefs and fish communities in the area, recording the following data:

• coral demography—coral species, abundance, size, and condition (old or new mortality and the presence of bleaching and disease)
• benthic cover—components on the ocean floor, including coral, algae, and bare sand
• fish assemblages—fish species, number of each species, and size of individuals

As part of NOAA’s routine coral reef monitoring cycle, a team deploys to Flower Garden Banks National Marine Sanctuary biennially to collect data for this ongoing record. Data is then made publicly available through the NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information archive. The data are used to summarize status and trends over time in a published technical memorandum and displayed in the National Coral Reef Monitoring Program Data Visualization Tool, among other data products.

Read more: https://coastalscience.noaa.gov/news/flower-garden-banks-national-marine-sanctuary-2026-coral-reef-monitoring-complete/

Coral Spawning Seven to ten days after the first full moon in August, the reef-building corals of Flower Garden Banks National Marine Sanctuary put on a fantastic spawning display. It is one of the most abundant coral spawning displays in the entire Caribbean due to the high density of broadcast spawning species.

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