1) Maryland's Oyster Recovery Partnership (www.oysterrecovery.org) was
accepted into the Reef Ball Foundation's Reefs Around the World Grant
Program and ordered a Pallet Ball and Bay Ball mold system today.
2) Sea Search of Virginia deployed 40 Reef Balls in Virginia this week.
3) Reef Ball Development Group, Ltd. is proud to announce a new VERY large
Reef Ball size...it's called the Goliath Reef Ball and is six feet wide and
5 feet tall. It uses only 1.3 yards of concrete and therefore is as
economical to make as our Ultra and Super Ball sizes. The mold system has
a
new feature not seen in other Reef Balls . a mold insert at the bottom that
creates a ledge habitat and makes the use of the center bladder easier when
pouring such a large sized Reef Ball. The unit has a whooping 46 holes!
4) There are 15 new Articles in the Press and 2 new scientific studies at
www.artificialreefs.org posted
this week.
5) PADI Aware Europe conducted a Reef Ball project in Turkey this month.
Reef Ball molds got stuck in Turkish customs and caused some problems by
PADI is working to correct the shipping documentation so that future
European Reef Ball projects are not delayed.
6) Tanya Streeter (The Current World Record Free Diving Record Holder and
Board Member of the Reef Ball Foundation) has been protesting captive
dolphin programs in the Cayman Islands. To find out more about how to
help
her cause, go to her website www.defineyourlimits.com
7) Royal Caribbean Cruise Line's Sovereign of the Seas received the Bahamian
Permits for their Reef Ball Coral Propagation and Transplant project this
week. The Sovereign of the Seas also took 2nd Place as Environmental Ship
of the Year (2003) for their work with Reef Balls.
8) There is a newly forming non-profit organization in Nicaragua, DOS MARES
www.dosmares.org that has been accepted
into the Reef Ball Foundation's
Reefs Around the World Grant program and hopes to use Reef Balls if they can
secure funding.
9) The Army Corp of Engineer's Vicksburg Modeling Center is going to do
extensive modeling on Reef Balls for use as submerged breakwaters. We
expect results from this high level modeling will be available within 2
months.
10) The 8th CARAH (An International Artificial Reef Scientific Conference)
has been tentaively scheduled for the week of March 6, 2005 in Biloxi, MS
More later...