“Weeding” Marine Debris out of Flower Garden Banks National Marine Sanctuary

July 28, 2025

From June 27 – July 2, an unlikely group of partners came together to remove over 1,700 pounds of debris (including 18 ghost nets and three trawling sledges) from Flower Garden Banks National Marine Sanctuary. Staff from NOAA, the National Marine Sanctuary Foundation, Moody Gardens, Georgia Aquarium, T&T Salvage LLC, and Anchor Diving joined forces and expertise aboard a Bordelon Marine vessel to conduct this unique operation.

people in hard hats stand around a person in a full-body red and yellow suit with a helmet on the deck of a large research vessel — Dive tenders help a technical diver suit up in preparation for a dive. Photo: Sierra Sarkis/NOAA

a white, cylindrical object with many pipes, wires, and buttons, and a small port window to view inside the chamber — A decompression chamber is used by the divers after each dive as a preventative measure to avoid decompression sickness (“the bends”). Photo: Sierra Sarkis/NOAA

Flower Garden Banks, the only national marine sanctuary in the Gulf, is home to a diverse array of marine life, including mesophotic ecosystems, which exist within the ocean’s twilight zone at depths that are outside the limits for recreational diving (130 feet). Marine debris can threaten mesophotic habitats by smothering corals, entangling marine life, breaking reef structures, and introducing pollutants.

The science team, divers, dive operations team, and crane operators worked together to carry out round-the-clock operations to locate, rig, and remove derelict fishing gear from the seafloor at Stetson Bank. The target sites and individual debris items were identified during previous missions in the sanctuary dating back to 2009.

Commercial divers were employed to complete the necessary underwater tasks, using specialized equipment to reach the seafloor, and breathing a gas mix that allows them to dive deeper than recreational depths. The divers’ helmets are equipped with cameras and a two-way radio, so they can communicate with the dive operations team back on the ship. Once the divers return to the ship, they enter a decompression chamber, a preventative safety measure to ensure the divers avoid decompression sickness.

These technical divers are used to completing physically demanding underwater construction and salvage jobs, but their excitement to support research and conservation efforts in the sanctuary was palpable.

a large crane hauls a large fishing net out of the ocean onto the deck of a research vessel — A crane was used to pull large marine debris, such as this ghost net, out of the water. Photo: Sierra Sarkis/NOAA

The scientists and aquarium staff onboard oversaw the project, ensured marine sanctuary protocols were followed, assisted in operations, helped manage and assess recovered materials, supported the in-water decision-making process, and collected data. Once debris was placed on deck by the crane, the science team sprung into action to categorize, measure, and weigh the debris, and remove any associated organisms. These organisms—including juvenile fish, corals, sponges and other invertebrates—were sampled for genetic analysis, and when possible, returned to the seafloor.

This removal effort supports a number of larger restoration and conservation projects, including Mesophotic and Deep Benthic Communities Restoration and High-Impact and Large Marine Debris Removal throughout the National Marine Sanctuary System. In addition, some of the items recovered will be donated to Washed Ashore, a non-profit environmental organization that works to bring awareness to the world's growing marine debris problem through education and art.

This mission was funded by the National Marine Sanctuary Foundation through a grant from the NOAA Marine Debris Program in partnership with Flower Garden Banks National Marine Sanctuary, Moody Gardens, and the Mesophotic and Deep Benthic Communities Restoration projects.