If you build it, they will swim: A project to create an artificial reef using concrete balls about 100 yards offshore at the all-inclusive Beaches Turks and Caicos was complete in 2007, and all manner of aquatic wildlife was already taking up residence in the Swiss-cheese of holes in the concrete-dome structures before the construction was completed.
"Before it was done, fish were swimming around in them," says Adrian Whitehead, hotel manager of Beaches Turks and Caicos. "The ball reef serves to protect our beach, too, as it helps the marine environment."
Beaches saw the need to create a reef right outside of its Turks and Caicos resort in order to get guests interested in snorkeling close to shore. The reef also protects the beach from erosion.
The Reef Ball Foundation, a non-profit organization based in Athens, Ga., has undertaken more than 4,000 such projects in more than 60 countries worldwide and was contracted to create the reef at Beaches Turks and Caicos. The project began in 2006 and was finished a little more than a year later.
The artificial reef is made from a mixture of cement, pea rocks, sand and water, the molds formed by two concave sides about three-feet by three-feet each. The structure of each is in the shape of a ball with groves and small holes carved into the ball frame, made by rubber plugs and buoys. The grooves allow smaller fish to swim into the center and take shelter from bigger fish. The smaller holes are where marine biologists attached live corals to the artificial reef.
The Reef Ball Foundation has installed more than a half-million reef balls around the world. The group began in 1993 by Todd Barber, who founded the Reef Ball Development Group with a goal of preserving and protecting coral reefs for future generations. A scuba diver, Barber saw his favorite coral reef on Grand Cayman destroyed by Hurricane Gilbert and wanted to do something to help increase the resiliency of coral reefs. He and his father patented the idea of building artificial reef modules with a central inflatable bladder, so they would be buoyant and easier to deploy.
Today, reef balls can be found in almost every coastal state in America and on every continent.
In the spring of 2008, the Reef Ball Foundation entered into an agreement with the School for Field Studies to restore reefs around South Caicos Island to create ball reefs there. South Caicos is fringed by the world's third-largest barrier reef system, one of the Caribbean's most pristine marine environments. These reefs face die-off due to global warming, unsustainable and destructive fishing practices, and the wrath of mother nature. The School for Field Studies plans to install more reef balls in the area through 2013.
"This is a wonderful opportunity to combine state-of-the-art technology with research opportunities for students," said School for Field Studies professor Catherine Jadot.
And, at the same time, creating a convenient, close place for snorkelers at Beaches Turks and Caicos to explore the marine world right off the resort's beach.
By Paul Kandarian
About.com
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