batch_auto_20260713 202607131256465730 BOEM ESP geoESPIS ESPIS@boem.gov Bureau of Ocean Energy Management Long-Term Coral Reef Monitoring at the Flower Garden Banks, Gulf of Mexico National Ocean Service, National Marine Sanctuaries, Flower Garden Banks National Marine Sanctuary National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Since 1989, a federally supported long-term coral reef monitoring program has focused on two study sites atop East Flower Garden Bank and West Flower Garden Bank (EFGB and WFGB) in the northwestern Gulf of Mexico. In 26 years of continuous monitoring, mean coral cover has ranged from 37% to 64% within EFGB and WFGB study sites, and averaged 53% over the 26 year monitoring record. Despite global coral reef decline in recent decades, EFGB and WFGB have suffered minimally from hurricanes, coral bleaching, and disease, and the reef supports relatively diverse and abundant benthic and fish populations. 750000 U.S. Department of the Interior, Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Environmental Studies Program https://doi.org/10.13039/100012475 M19PG00001 10.67297/9A1E22 https://boem.gov/awardpages/100258