What are artificial reefs and why do we need them?
By Melissa Rodriguez
Ever wonder what
an artificial reef is and why
we need them? Artificial reefs are man-made habitats built from
various materials. They create new marine life communities. Over the
last several decades, fish and shellfish habitats have been
significantly reduced or heavily impacted by the development of our
coastal areas, accidents, and severe storms. This has led to a
decline in different marine life populations. Artificial reefs
provide food, shelter, protection, and spawning areas for hundreds
of species of fish and other marine organisms. But artificial reefs
are not just for fish. They also provide areas for scuba divers and
anglers to use, reducing the human pressures that natural reefs
endure every year.
To find out more, visit these sites:
The
Reef Ball Foundation, Inc. - Reef Balls are state of
the art designed artificial reefs designed to restore ailing coral
reefs and to create new fishing and scuba diving reefs. Over
50,000 Reef Balls have been deployed world wide creating over 500
new scuba destinations. Reef Ball sell, rents or leases molds and
can provide turnkey solutions for folks wanting to build a reef.
The
Reef Ball Coalition, Inc. - The Reef Ball Coalition is an
eco-tourist company that sends folks on vacations to build and
deploy Reef Ball artificial reefs. On your next scuba vacation why
not build a reef to leave for future generations or even your next
vacation?
Eternal
Reefs, Inc.- Eternal Reefs is a company that builds memorial
reefs with Reef Balls, often incorporating cremated remains within
the concrete of the Reef Ball. Eternal Reef specializes in
creating memorial reefs for scuba divers and other ocean lovers.
Help ease the suffering of diving accidents by leaving a living
memorial for other divers to remember.
Starfish
Reef Builders, Inc.- Starfish Reef Builders, Inc. is a t-shirt
company that has designed special "I helped build a Reef" t-shirts
where profits go to building Reef Ball reefs. Dive clubs and dive
stores can sell these shirts to help raise money for local reef
building programs too.
Don't forget to visit the Reef category
for more links. What do you think about artificial reefs? Express
your opinion on the
boards or in the chat room. For
current events, don't forget to check the calendar.
Other Ecologicaly sound sites on About.com
Happy Holidays,
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