Texas A&M-Galveston professor Jay Rooker will lead a $1.9 million effort to learn more about the Flower Garden Banks and the fish that inhabit the marine sanctuary.
The Gulf of Mexico is one of the most important areas in the world for marine life, and especially its natural banks and reefs that provide food, habitat and shelter for numerous species. It’s also home to a key marine protected area, and a Texas A&M University at Galveston marine biologist is heading a $1.9 million project to study how fish and marine life inhabit the region.
Jay Rooker will lead a team of 13 researchers from five universities hoping to answer many questions about marine life in the Gulf, especially those related to natural banks and the fishes that inhabit them.
One key area that will be examined is the Flower Garden Banks National Marine Sanctuary that was first discovered by snapper and grouper fishermen in the early 1900s. They named the banks after the corals, sponges, plants and other marine life that they could see on the brightly-colored reefs below their boats.
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