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| | USGS/NBII CSWGCIN - Gulf of Mexico Offshore Environs |
 | | In January 2002, the Flower Garden Banks National Marine Sanctuary agreed to partner with CSWGCIN to build a suite of ArcIMS-based interactive mapping applications aimed at researchers, education, and the general public. |
 | | Geologists also began to study two of the shallower features, which were called the Flower Garden Banks, due to the brightly colored rocks (which were later discovered to be coral) that sometimes snagged fishermen's hooks and boat anchors. |
 | | It wasn't until the 1960s that scientists and scuba divers discovered the banks were composed of massive, continuous coral reefs, with large schools of tropical fish, sea turtles, sharks, and large impressive creatures such as manta rays and whale sharks. |
| cswgcin.nbii.gov /ecoregion/gulfofmexico/offshore (395 words) |
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