U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 2004-1285, Archive of Raw Bottom Photographs collected during Cruise P1-04-GM, Northern Gulf of Mexico, 21-24 June, 2004
This report is the raw data archive for bottom photographs and related tow-camera data collected in June, 2004, in the northern Gulf of Mexico aboard the research vessel R/V Pelican. The photographic images were collected to evaluate whether chemosynthetic organisms existed on the sea floor in association with two sea-floor mud mounds in 1,300-m water depth on the floor of the Mississippi Canyon near lease block Atwater Valley 14.

Recently Discovered Reef is Deepest Known off Continental U.S.
A team of scientists has determined that a coral reef discovered in 1999 is the deepest reef ever found off the continental United States. The reef lies in approximately 250 feet of water off the coast of southwest Florida on a submerged barrier-island named Pulley Ridge. It is a significant discovery that may be unique. Besides hosting the reef, Pulley Ridge survived rising sea level and erosion from waves and currents.

Environmental Studies Program Results at the East and West Flower Garden Banks
Beneath the indigo blue waters of the Northern Gulf of Mexico lie the East and West Flower Garden Banks, a pair of topographic features 12 miles apart and approximately 100 miles southeast of Galveston, Texas. These submarine banks rise from depths of 328 feet to crest in a water depth of only 60 feet.

Flower Garden Banks National Marine Sanctuary
This place is special.... Picture yourself over 100 miles from land, in the middle of the Gulf of Mexico. At times, the seas can be very unforgiving, and the weather can turn foul in an instant. But here, in the midst of this unpredictable Gulf, lie three of the most beautiful and wild places in all the world. Manta rays, whale sharks, coral heads bigger than cars, hundreds of species of fish and invertebrates...