Mooring Buoy Maintenance East and West Flower Garden Banks

August 6, 2026

Flower Garden Banks National Marine Sanctuary divers recently performed some much-needed repairs and replacements to the fleet of mooring buoys in the sanctuary. Over four days, the team was able to successfully install three new u-bolt anchors, which were cemented into reef rock: two at East Flower Garden Bank and one at West Flower Garden Bank. While mooring buoys were not placed on these bolts at this time, they are ready for the next time the team is offshore.

scuba divers install a metal u-bolt into reef rock. — Maintaining mooring buoy infrastructure, like this metal u-bolt, requires divers to bring tools and other supplies with them underwater. Photo credit: Olivia Eisenbach/NOAA

Three new mooring buoys were also deployed during this trip. One mooring was deployed to East Flower Garden Bank, bringing the site's mooring buoy count to three, and two mooring buoys were deployed at West Flower Garden Bank, bringing the site's mooring buoy count to four.

Explore this interactive map tool for the most up-to-date map of active mooring buoys within the sanctuary.

In addition to mooring buoy work, the team was able to complete several science tasks, including swapping out acoustic receivers for tracking fish and redeploying "Bob," the Sofar spotter buoy, back at East Flower Garden Bank. Real-time data from "Bob" can be found through the Sofar dashboard and on the sanctuary's Offshore Conditions webpage.