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Climate change is hurting coral worldwide. But these reefs off the Texas coast are thriving
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Fish swim around brain coral deep below ocean at the Flower Garden Banks National Marine Sanctuary in the Gulf of Mexico Saturday, Sept. 16, 2023. Sheltered in a deep, cool habitat far from shore, the reefs in the Flower Garden Banks boast a stunning amount of coral coverage. - photo by AP Photo/LM Otero
OFF THE COAST OF GALVESTON, Texas (AP) — Divers descending into azure waters far off the Texas coast dip below a horizon dotted with oil and gas platforms into an otherworldly landscape of undersea mountains crusted with yellow, orange and pink coral as far as the eye can see. Some of the world's healthiest coral reefs can be found in the Gulf of Mexico, about 100 miles (160 kilometers) off the Texas coast. Sheltered in a deep, cool habitat far from shore, the reefs in the Flower Garden Banks National Marine Sanctuary boast a stunning amount of coral coverage.