Dr. Erin Spencer, Communications Manager for Gulf Restoration at the National Marine Sanctuary Foundation
Jake Emmert, Dive Safety Officer for Moody Gardens and MDBC Civilian Technical Diving Coordinator
In June 2023, a group of highly trained technical divers assembled in Destin, Florida, to advance deep sea coral restoration projects in the Gulf of Mexico. One year and four trips later, they’ve already made giant strides–and they’re just getting started.
The dive team, led by Moody Gardens in partnership with National Marine Sanctuary Foundation, NOAA, California Academy of Sciences, Georgia Aquarium, Aquarium of the Pacific, Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institute, and Teichman Marine Group, is supporting a long-term project to restore mesophotic and deep benthic communities (MDBC) injured by the 2010 Deepwater Horizon (DWH) oil spill. These habitats lie in depths of 160 feet or more–outside recreational dive limits, but within the reach of technical divers.
The MDBC restoration projects have used tools like remotely operated vehicles (ROVs) and autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs) when navigating the deep sea. Some tasks, though, benefit from human dexterity and judgment–like the handling of sensitive deep-sea corals. Adding the expertise of technical divers to the existing suite of remote tools unlocks new potential for deep sea restoration.
Mesophotic (“middle light”) habitats are an integral part of the Gulf of Mexico food web, and are home to a rich collection of fish, corals, and other invertebrates. These habitats faced an unprecedented threat in 2010 when the DWH oil spill released more than 134 million gallons of oil over 87 days, and more than 770 square miles of mesophotic and deep-sea habitat were injured.
Following the spill, federal and state agencies formed the Deepwater Horizon Natural Resource Damage Assessment Trustee Council (DWH Trustees) to assess the impacts and restore injured habitats, species, and the services they provide. In 2019, the Open Ocean Trustees selected four MDBC restoration projects–mapping and habitat modeling, coral propagation, habitat assessment, and active management–to be implemented in the northern Gulf of Mexico. In 2022, Moody Gardens was awarded a multi-year grant through the Foundation and NOAA to conduct technical diving in support of restoration efforts.
In addition to their own technical diving team and their newly-established Undersea Medicine Program, Moody Gardens has close relationships with other aquariums, academic institutions, and federal agencies who also have their own technical divers. Moody Gardens is also working to secure a hyperbaric chamber and will continue to develop resources to support coral restoration. These efforts include team development activities and regular meetings with the MDBC team to align technical diving activities with restoration goals.
In 2024, the team joined coral scientists on two week long expeditions off Florida to test different coral propagation techniques, or ways to grow colonies through “planting” small corals. The divers also collected corals to test propagation in the lab, which are now being cared for by partners across the country. As with many offshore trips, weather and vessel issues meant a few down days, which were used to train divers on NOAA’s Transportable Recompression Chamber System and deploy equipment from the surface for divers to later position on the seafloor, making each moment at sea both meaningful and worthwhile.
This work marks the beginning of a series of collaborative expeditions with zoo and aquarium, academic, and federal dive programs off the coast of Florida. Combined, 21 deep and safety divers have conducted missions totaling 19 days at sea, successfully completing 21 dives totaling 122.5 hours underwater. “Contributing to the success of technical diving, undersea medicine, and restoration is an important part of the mission of Moody Gardens, and we look forward to continuing our support for these Gulf of Mexico efforts for years to come,” Jake Emmert, Dive Safety Officer for Moody Gardens and MDBC Civilian Technical Diving Coordinator.
