Passport to Texas

Reefing the Texas Clipper 10 years ago.

TPW TV--Texas Clipper 10 Years Later Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

This is Passport to Texas

Ten years ago, Texas Parks and Wildlife sent a ship called The Texas Clipper to the gulf floor to serve as an artificial reef.

Texas Parks & Wildlife has taken a section of the Gulf of Mexico that was once a barren dessert, and created an enormous ecosystem of 180,000 square feet of substrate, to bring new life for both the fisherman and the divers.

Tim O’Leary takes sport divers out to explore the Texas Clipper which now teems with marine life.

This is a world class wreck. I want Texans and Texas to get excited.

The Clipper is an oasis for the marine life of the Gulf of Mexico. Dale Shively headed the project for Texas Parks and Wildlife.

This is quite an adventure to come back 10 years later and see that it’s a tremendous dive opportunity, it’s a great place for fishing, and it’s a great place for marine habitat. I think it’s a great dive destination. Lots of marine life, a lot of coral, juvenile reef species of all different types. You’ve got thousands and thousands of square feet of hard surface area and you can see that where the marine life is growing on the ship itself. I would consider this a big success for an artificial reef.

The Texas Parks and Wildlife TV series on PBS airs a segment on the Texas Clipper, then and now, the week of November 19. Check local listings.

The Sport Fish Restoration program supports our series.

For Texas Parks and Wildlife…I’m Cecilia Nasti.