NOAA - Texas Reef, Dry Tortugas

Setting

Texas Reef, with 6.8% hard coral cover in the 2021 Dry Tortugas CREMP point-count survey, is a Florida CREMP (FWC-FWRI) monitoring site; the June 2021 NOAA cruise dived it on the way back from Black Coral Rock (Anderson's log: 'fun dive en route back from Black Coral Rock').

General benthic features

The photos show a low rocky hard-bottom threaded with small swim-throughs opening onto blue water, scattered gray-tan coral domes, clusters of gray tube sponges, and a maze-patterned brain coral tucked into a crevice (e.g., Image 4, Image 6, Image 7, Image 8, Image 9, Image 10, Image 11, Image 17, Image 18, Image 19, Image 25).

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A patch of staghorn coral appears in one frame (e.g., Image 2).

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A long macro sequence gets in close on individual coral polyps — round, pale-centered corallites giving way to fringed, fleshy, greenish-yellow crowns (e.g., Image 12, Image 15, Image 16, Image 21, Image 23).

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Coral cover

• Coral cover: 6.8% in 2021, from the FWC-FWRI Dry Tortugas CREMP point-count survey of the site's 4 permanent stations, the year Anderson dived here; the same stations read 3.1% in 2024. For comparison only, computer vision on Anderson's own June 2021 photographs reads higher than the agency survey (method table below) because the photographs concentrate on coral heads rather than a systematic transect view; the agency survey is the site's cover.
• The computer-vision figures do not agree with the transect data even after allowing for CoralSCOP's known over-read, and are likely inflated further by the macro/polyp close-up sequence shot at this site, which is not representative of a transect-frame view.

Stressors

Anderson's log for this dive reads 'Beautiful swim-throughs though way too much macroalgae', and the photographs show dense red and brown macroalgae carpeting the rock walls and ledges of the swim-throughs. No corallivores were evident.

Fish and other fauna

A long-legged shrimp (Anderson's ID) poses for the camera (e.g., Image 14), an angelfish (also Anderson's ID) appears in two frames (e.g., Image 1, Image 20), and lobsters shelter under a ledge (e.g., Image 24).

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Comparisons with other data

FWC CREMP (Dry Tortugas, DTCREMP) surveyed this site (Texas Rock #291) in 2024, 0.00 km from the pin. Within 5 km, 73 independent stations recorded station-year means of 0.0–28% hard coral cover between 1999 and 2024; the nearest, FWC CREMP (Dry Tortugas, DTCREMP) at Texas Rock #291, 0.00 km away, read 2.3–10% between 2009 and 2024.