Texas Fauna Project

Brain Coral

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G.P. Schmahl is an oceanographer who worked for close to 20 years as Superintendent of the Flower Gardens Banks National Marine Sanctuary, starting in 1999. Here he explains the crucial role that new exploration vehicles, including the Deep Worker one-person submersible, the Navy's NR-1 nuclear submarine, and various Remotely Operated Vehicles, made available through partnerships with Sylvia Earle, Bob Ballard, Woods Hole and the University of North Carolina at Wilmington, had to play in the 2021 expansion of the Flower Gardens sanctuary.