A Texas A&M study shows weather events carried contaminated water to the Flower Garden Banks sanctuary off the Galveston Coast, much farther than expected.
A team of researchers that includes three Texas A&M University oceanographers has found that human pollution from floods in 2016 and Hurricane Harvey in 2017 made it all the way to the Flower Garden Banks National Marine Sanctuary, located about 100 miles off the Texas coast.
Kathryn Shamberger, assistant professor of oceanography, along with Texas A&M oceanographers Shawn Doyle and Jason Sylvan, and researchers from Rice University, University of Houston-Clear Lake, and Boston University have had their work published in the current issue of Frontiers in Marine Science.
The team examined sponges in the Flower Garden Banks, a popular diving area known for its colorful coral reefs. It was designated as a national marine sanctuary in 1992 and now has 17 different reef systems.
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