Jesse Cancelmo

Stunned by widespread ignorance about the Gulfof Mexico following the 2010 Macondo oil spill,underwater photographer Jesse Cancelmo decidedto turn his camera on the marine life of this 600,000square mile international sea that connects fiveUS states, six Mexican states, and the island nationof Cuba. With the goal of countering dismissivedescriptions of a Gulf plagued with dead zones andoverrun by oil rigs, Cancelmo set out to capture aworld rarely acknowledged, let alone seen.. Between the Gulf 's rich shoreline habitats and itsprolific oceanic communities, thriving amid dazzlingcoral reefs, brine seeps, canyons, salt domes, and hardbottom banks, are more than 15,000 species, including an iconiccast of sea animals: sperm whales, manta rays, whale sharks,manatees, spotted dolphins, and more. Capturing images from locations all around the Gulf, Cancelmoreveals the beauty and glory of these diverse habitats and species. Although this is a book of sensational underwater photography,Cancelmo intends it to be more than a celebration of oceanicbeauty. He also hopes to inspire better understanding andappreciation of the natural marine habitats in the Gulf and tostrengthen support for their protection and sustainment.

Just one hundred and ten miles south of the Texas-Louisiana border, beneath the waters of the Gulf of Mexico, lie two coral reefs, together called the Flower Garden Banks. This coral community, the northernmost reef system in the United States and a national marine sanctuary, is home to hundreds of kinds of fish and other tropical sea life. Manta rays and turtles visit regularly, as do whale sharks and schools of hammerhead sharks. Other wonders include the annual mass coral spawns and a briny depression called Gollum Lake. Nearby are two other reefs. Stetson Bank, its top spotted with hard corals, mollusks, and sponges, is known for its diversity - from black sea hares to golden smooth trunkfish. At Geyer Bank, thousands of butterfly fish dominate a huge population of tropical fish whose density rivals that of the coral reefs in the South Pacific. Protruding from the flat, muddy continental shelf, these and thirty other natural reefs support an exceptional amount and variety of sea life in Texas waters. They sit amid hundreds of oil and gas platforms, which create their own special reef ecosystems. These reefs, equal in their profusion of life and color to the storied reefs of Florida and Hawaii, have not been widely known to Texans outside of a small group of scientists and divers. With extraordinary photographs and a knowledgeable first-person narrative, author Jesse Cancelmo instills an appreciation for the beauty and fragility of one of the state's least-known natural environments. ""Texas Coral Reefs"" will inspire adventurers - both the underwater and armchair varieties - to enjoy these spectacular but little-known sites that lie so close to home.