Photographs of the Gulf of Mexico continental shelf floor between Panama City, Florida, and Galveston, Texas, were examined for evidence of sediment texture, structure, and biologic activity. Sediment size is distinctively coarser in areas of reef growth near the continental slope. Bioturbation was recognized by the presence of burrows, mounds, furrows, tracks, and excrements. Water turbidity of varying degrees at times obscured the real water-sediment interface. Current direction and inferred velocity were indicated by compass and sediment cloud. A program of extensive photography, complemented by shallow cores, grab samples, and box samples, is needed to understand fully the different physiographic provinces of the Gulf of Mexico and their local variations.

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