Message #114
1) The Reef Ball Development Group will have a booth, Staffed By Larry
Beggs, Jay Jorgensen and Patty Jorgensen with free Reef Ball videos at the
52nd meeting of the Gulf and Caribbean Fisheries Institute which is held
Nov. 1-5 at the Holiday Inn Beachside in Key West. Stop by and see us.
2) Reef Ball President Todd Barber will give a talk about artificial reefs
and Reef Balls at Del Valle’s Biology department on Friday November 19th
in Guatemala City, Guatemala. During the 5 day trip (Nov. 19-23), Reef
Ball staff plan on meeting with the Board of Directors of the Asociacion
Tierra y Oceano, Dr. Dix, head of the Biology department of Del Valle
University, representatives from INGUAT (Guatemalan Tourism Institute),
CONAP (National Council on Protected Areas), CONAMA (National Council on
the Environment) and possibly IDAEH (Institute on Anthropology and
Archeology), the Mayor of Puerto Barrios and the Commander of the Atlantic
Naval Base. The goal of the trip is to assist the Asociacion Tierra y
Oceano in all phases of the planned Reef Ball project.
3) PRESS RELEASE FROM REEF INNOVATIONS & THE REEF BALL FOUNDATION...
JACKSONVILLE & REEF BALL DEVELOPMENT GROUP, Ltd.
BUILD THE CHARLES HUGHES KIRBO MEMORIAL REEF
For Immediate Release Contact: Larry Beggs
(941)650-2519
JACKSONVILLE,FL (Oct. 14, 1999)- Reef Ball Foundation, Inc.,
inventor of attractive, environmentally safe artificial reefs, is in the
construction phase of making 500 Reef Balls to be deployed about 6 miles
off the coast between St. Augustine and Jacksonville. This innovative and
proven reef design is the first of its kind to be deployed in all of
Northeast Florida. The site of the construction is at the Music Shed
downtown, provided courtesy of the Jacksonville Riverfront Corporation.
The reef is being built in honor of Charles H. Kirbo, who served as an
advisor to President Jimmy Carter, was a trustee of the Carter Center
and a trustee of the T.M. and Irene B. Kirbo Charitable Trust. The reef is
being built thanks to a grant from the Kirbo Charitable Trust and the Reef
Ball Foundation.
The project will be a collaboative effort between local schools, such as
Mandarin and Fletcher High Schools, St. Augustine High School and
Jacksonville University, and community organizations and local businesses
such as the Jacksonville Offshore Sport Fishing Club and the Jacksonville
Reef Research Team. Construction of the Reef Balls is being done by Reef
Innovations. Representatives from each of these
organizations will be present to answer questions about their involvement.
The project coordinator, Larry Beggs, is Vice President of Reef Ball
Development Group, Ltd. and president of Reef Innovations.
Reef Balls are mound shaped concrete artificial reef modules that mimic
natural coral heads. The modules have many different sized holes in them
to provide habitat for many types of marine life. Reef Balls are made by
pouring environmentally safe concrete into patented mold systems. They are
engineered to be simple to make and deploy, and are unique in that they
can be floated to their drop site behind any boat by utilizing an
internal, inflatable bladder. However, due to the sheer size of this reef,
it will have to be taken offshore on a barge. Reef Balls are designed to
be stable on the ocean floor, and have been proven not to move even after
hurricane force winds have passed overhead.
Patented Reef Ball systems have several advantages over the artificial
reefs currently being built. The modules are affordable, easy to deploy,
and they populate with fish quickly. Additionally, because the reef can be
placed on the sea floor in a systematic way, it lends itself to doing fish
studies. This is where the local schools and Reef Research Team can take
advantage of them in an effort to use this as a research reef. Students
from area colleges and high schools will be trained to collect data, like
water quality and fish counts, to contribute to a database of information
on the productivity of reefs. Reef Balls are unique among other artificial
reefs since they are designed to attract the same number and densities of
marine species as the natural reefs. Not having too many or too few of all
marine species helps to keep the reefs in "balance" so that production of
fish occurs rather than just an attraction of fish. The overall benefit
they provide is for increased fish habitat for fishermen and divers in
Northeast Florida to utilize in addition to the reefs already offshore.
With 50,000 Reef Balls built and deployed in over 500 projects worldwide,
Reef Ball Foundation, Inc. is making a big splash to
help save the world's ailing ocean reefs, and contribute to the
educational efforts of students interested in the marine sciences. Upon
completion of the project, Reef Ball will be loaning students at both
Mandarin and St. Augustine High Schools up to six molds apiece to
continue construction of balls that can be deployed at a later date next
spring.
END OF RELEASE
More Later...See You in Key West!
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