Stetson Bank NMS

About this dive site

Explore the water around Texas

Stetson Bank is located 48 km northwest of the Flower Gardens. It was added to the Flower Garden Banks National Marine Sanctuary (FGBNMS) in October 1996. The sanctuary serves as a biological reservoir of Caribbean species in the northern Gulf of Mexico. Temperatures at Stetson Bank are a few degrees cooler in winter than in the Flower Gardens. The bank supports an extraordinary fish community. Community Structure: The cooler winter temperature at Stetson Bank relative to the Flower Gardens prevents coral reefs to thrive. Instead, scattered coral colonies with a dominant sponge community occur. Geological Characterization: Stetson Bank is a surface expression of salt diapirs capped by uplifted layers of claystone and sandstone, which have eroded at unequal rates to create a strange "moonscape" appearance. It is among the smallest of the mid-shelf banks in the northern Gulf of Mexico. It is a pelagic zone feature with clay/siltstone bedrock.