Educators have been taking “giant strides” off the M/V Fling to investigate marine communities at two High Island platforms, just within the boundaries of the Flower Garden Banks National Marine Sanctuary.
Every summer since 1996, a group of 18 teachers participates in an introductory 5-day, hands-on “Down Under, Out Yonder” (DUOY) program. Sponsored by the Gulf of Mexico Foundation and hosted by the National Marine Sanctuaries program of the National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration, the educators take 2 days of classroom instruction and apply it during 3 days of SCUBA diving on East, West, and Stetson Banks. Some years, alumni are invited back for an advanced session.
Kelly Drinnen joined the Flower Garden Banks National Marine Sanctuary as education specialist in 2004, after serving as director of education at Moody Gardens in Galveston, Tex. She participated in DUOY in 2000 and 2001 and now organizes the annual program.
Reefs
Drinnen told OGJ that the educators learn about coral reef biology, ecology, and conservation issues, and are also introduced to commercial perspectives. They learn to identify 80 species of reef fish and participate in a full-day fish survey on the natural reefs, before spending a day at one of the platforms.
According to the International Coral Reef Initiative, 2008 is the international year of the reef: “A worldwide campaign to raise awareness about the value and importance of coral reefs and threats to their sustainability.” It’s sponsored by the US Department of State, Department of Commerce, which manages NOAA, and Japan’s Ministry of the Environment (www.iyor.org).
IYOR 2008 is the second designated campaign; more than 225 organizations in 50 countries and territories participated in the first IYOR, in 1997, which generated more than 700 articles.
Platforms
Sharon Cain at Gulf Diving LLC told OGJ that the High Island platforms (A389 and A376) are adjacent to the original marine sanctuary blocks and operators usually grant permission for boats to dive when radioed in advance. Capt. Ken W. Bush, a retired school principal, has run the M/V Fling for the educator workshops. Boats are only refused permission when a supply vessel is in the area or platform maintenance is under way, Cain said.
Diving on a platform is very different from diving on the natural reefs of Flower Garden Banks, Drinnen told OGJ. Currents are less predictable and divers must stay within the platform legs. After following lines set from the dive vessel to a platform leg, they may descend to only 70-80 ft, although the water depth surpasses 300 ft. There are a great many encrusting organisms colonizing the platform steel, including marine algae, sponges, and corals. They frequently see loggerhead turtles, large jacks, Red Hind (a spotted grouper), and sharks. Drinnen was particularly pleased to find the elusive Tessellated Blenny (Hypsoblennius invemar), a small fish with vivid blue-red spotting, that ducks into barnacles and sponges.
Orange cup coral has colonized many platforms and is particularly photogenic, but Drinnen points out that it’s an invasive species, native to the Pacific, and is believed to have migrated in ship ballast via the Panama Canal. It was first spotted off Curacao in the 1940s, and prefers shaded environments provided by the truss structure of platforms.
Lloyd Hetrick, a well integrity engineer with BP PLC in Houston, with a degree in ocean engineering from Texas A&M University, has taught at the DUOY educator workshops for 10 years. He explains to the participants how operators bid, explore, and extract oil and gas, discusses the types of rigs and platforms and their lifecycle through abandonment.
Hetrick told OGJ that he tries to clear up misconceptions about the technical complexities of working offshore and puts the industry’s activities in perspective.
Even facility ownership can be complex. The High Island A389 platform, a favorite dive spot for DUOY, was originally controlled by Mobil Oil, passed to ExxonMobil, then Vastar, BP, and is now operated by W&T Offshore.
Diving at the Flower Garden Banks and on the platforms is more akin to recreational diving than to commercial diving, Hetrick told OGJ, though it still carries some risk.
The educators ask a lot of questions, and throughout the Q&A, Hetrick tried to point out that the industry works hard to put people’s safety first, prevent harm to the environment, and protect property and facilities from damage. When demand for petroleum changes, he tells them, industry will scale back. No one rode bicycles to class, he noted.