Flower Garden Banks Faces Bleaching Threat as Texas Gulf Warms Twice as Fast as Global Ocean

Houston Public Media (and NPR affiliate Texas Standard, republishing Sep 15) reported that Gulf of Mexico waters off Texas are warming at roughly twice the rate of the broader ocean, raising bleaching risk at the Flower Garden Banks National Marine Sanctuary, about 100 miles off Galveston. NOAA issued a Level One bleaching alert for the sanctuary at the start of August 2026 after water temperatures reached 87°F; researchers note that more than 50 days above 85°F can trigger a bleaching year, though the sanctuary's unusual depth has so far limited widespread bleaching compared to shallower reefs. A coral rescue lab at Galveston's Moody Gardens Aquarium is rehabilitating bleached and diseased coral fragments retrieved from the sanctuary and working on breeding heat-tolerant strains as a stopgap while global emissions remain unresolved.