 Reef
Balls Gaining Popularity Through Unique
Applications
Posted by:
Cindy on Dec 31, 2003 AD - 02:50 AM
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Reef balls are artificial reefs
built specifically to improve the environment underwater
and to attract and support a diversity of marine life.
Reef balls have attracted worldwide interest and
popularity among marine conservationists and divers who
enjoy exploring the reefs they help recreate.
Reef balls are American in origin. They are the
result of an experiment by Todd Barber, an entrepreneur
and an active environmentalist. Reefballs began to catch
on about a decade ago but their applications have
recently grown significantly.
Todd Barber, scuba
diver, CEO and visionary who founded the “reefballs”
program, had for many years visited the Caymen Islands
each Christmas with his family. Every year he dived on
the same coral reef and took photos of the same piece of
coral. He observed firsthand how very slowly coral
grows. But one year, following a major storm he returned
to discover that ‘his’ piece of coral reef had been
destroyed.
As a result, Barber along with a group
of friends spent several years designing reefballs. They
are basically hollow concrete spheres with specially
designed holes that could be floated with an air filled
bladder and ‘sunk’ into place, or sunk from a barge to
give a damaged reef a chance and to offer a place for
corals regrowth to begin. In just over ten years there
are now over 500,000 reefs balls in 3700 projects in 44
countries around the world, and the list grows each
month.
There are a number of ways that reefballs
have been modified and used around the world's oceans.
How? For example: Reefballs flexible molding techniques
allow the reefballs to be shaped as a very desireable
habitat for the spiny lobster. This allows for the
development of less dense lobster cultivation and helps
create a more balanced eco-system. These have been used
successfully in Malaysia. Similar Reefballs have also
been used in lobster projects in Newfoundland,
Canada.
A major reef restoration project was
recently completed in Antigua that included the use of
layer cake reef balls. In November, the Lake
Pontchartrain (LA) Artificial Reef Working Group
announced the completion of three new artificial fishing
reefs involving 600 reef balls deployed in Lake
Pontchartrain.
Reef Balls are made in many sizes
to best match the natural reef type which is being
mimicked. The most common sizes are as
follows:
Super Reef Ball = 6 x 4.5, 5000 pounds;
Reef or Ultra Ball = 5-6 X 3.8-4, 4000 pounds; Pallet
Ball =4X3, 1750 pounds; Bay Ball = 3X2, 400 pounds;
Mini-Bay Ball = 2 x 21", 300 pounds; Lo Pro Ball = 2 x
1, 75 pounds; Oyster Ball= 18"X1, 35 pounds; "Model"
Ball = 7"x5", 6 pounds.
Overwhelmingly, the
evidence is quite clear that Reef Balls create essential
fish, invertebrate and marine plant habitats. In most
cases, the evidence indicates that Reef Balls can easily
reach the 80% or more of the natural species diversity
and population densities of nearby natural reef systems
within just a few years, however achieving the ultimate
goal of 100% may take five or more years and will nearly
always require special treatments to match local
conditions.
To learn more about reef balls and to
become more actively involved in this coral conservation
movement visit: http://www.artificialreefs.org/.
Sources:
Malaysian Star; Reefballs Asia; http://www.reefball.com/; http://www.artificialreefs.com/;
http://www.artificialreefs.org/.
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