RIG DIVING!

Take an Offshore Dive Trip to the Gulf of Mexico

These photos provide a quick idea of what's beneath an offshore natural gas and oil platform in the Gulf of Mexico. Featured in this brief photo-story collection are slides taken at BP Exploration's production platform, "Snapper." The platform is located 105 miles southeast of Galveston, Texas, in 863-foot waters in the Central Gulf of Mexico. Many local Gulf coast scuba divers enjoy their underwater visits to Gulf platforms to sight-see tropical fish and organisms normally associated with natural reef systems located in the Caribbean and far away places. Local divers call these trips "Rig Diving" because the word rig is commonly used in place of platform.

Once in place, the platform's substructure acts as an "artificial reef," providing hard surfaces for encrusting organisms such as spiny oysters, barnacles, sponges, and corals. These creatures are the basis of the food chain in what becomes a new marine ecosystem for numerous types of fish, sharks, sea turtles, spiny lobsters, and sea urchins. A spectacular and colorful marine environment is the result. The longer a platform is in place, the more vigorously encrusting organisms grow and the better the underwater ecosystem flourishes. The fish populations near offshore rigs are so abundant that many people enjoy going "Rig Fishing" or sport fishing to take advantage of the easy catches.

Take an underwater sightseeing trip with the research scientists who visited this platform to study the creatures that grow and live on this offshore rig.

	This is an aerial view of BP Exploration's "Snapper" platform. It is located 105 miles southeast of Galveston, Texas, in 863-foot waters. The platform was named after the fish with the same name also found in these waters.
	These college student researchers from Texas A&M University are studying some samples from the platform's underwater ecosystem. The "Snapper" platform's sleeping, living, and eating quarters also double as laboratory facilities for the marine scientists.
	Here, one of the research divers is being lifted from the topside deck of the "Snapper" platform in a basket to be placed in the water below. Many find this basket-ride to be just as much fun as an amusement park ride.
	This photo gives an idea of the size of the platform in comparison to the diver in the basket. The diver, being lowered in the basket, will make an easy and safe splash into the water below.
	Once beneath the water's surface, this is what a scuba diver sees looking up toward the water's surface.
	Here's a view of the research diver and the encrusting organisms on one of the platform's legs. Shown here are barnacles, spiny oysters, and sponges.
	This is a close-up view of a yellow spiny oyster, sea urchin, and barnacle (from bottom to top of photo). Not shown here, but very common, are tiny fish called blennies that like to make homes inside empty barnacles. This photo was taken at an 80-foot water depth.
	This is a common underwater scene around the offshore platforms in the Gulf of Mexico. The same animals that live on natural reefs, tropical fish, and encrusting organisms create "artificial reefs" on a platform's structure in the water. Shown here are tropical fish such as the striped sergeant major fish, the red and yellow spotfin hogfish, and a (barely noticeable) black and yellow rock beauty fish.
	This tiny creature is an arrow crab (scientific name Stenorhynchus--which means narrow nose). Notice his purple claws. A fully mature arrow crab is about 2.5 inches high and 5-6 inches across. Its spiny body is a natural defense against predators. This crab is sitting in a colony of bryozoans, which are sometimes known as "moss animals".
	This octacoral, a soft coral, grows on the "Snapper" platform. Octacoral is a typical component of a live-bottom community in natural reef systems.
	Closing the photo-story collection is another scene of the colorful fish and organisms found around this platform's artificial reef system. The bright blue fish in the center is a blue tang with sergeant major fish swimming just above. One creole fish (solid red) is partially visible-- look between the blue tang and sergeant major.