1) The first eternal reef reef ball in Virginia was cast last week by Sea
Search of Virginia, go to www.artificialreefs.org and click in the news for
an article about the project.

2) Reef Ball Foundation (Kathy Kirbo) and Reef Ball Development Group (Todd
Barber) Staff will be in St. Marteen from Nov. 27 - Dec 3rd assisting the
Nature Foundation with a Reef Ball and coral propogation/ transplant
project...during this time contact Larry Beggs at Reef Innovations
(larry@reefball.com) as both Reef Ball offices will be closed.

3) Pumping sand, or "beach renourishment" in coral reef areas kills corals!
To help solve this problem, Reef Ball now represents a host of cutting edge
technologies to stop beach erosion without damaging sand
pumping...alternatives including Reef Balls as submerged breakwaters,
temporary porous groin solutions, and others.  Many private properties and
hotels in coral reef areas consider the best choice to be Reef Balls as a
submerged breakwater because they will get the wonderful benefit of a
beautiful coral reefs in front of their property which is in and of itself a
great asset to any property and which increases property values. (Whereas
pump and fill beaches decrease your property value as potential buyers must
factor in the cost of re-pumping every few years).  Reef Balls are also a
final solution, designed to last over 500 years.

We also have coral propogation and coral transplant options, and other
designs (using the same mold system) that can make a submerged breakwater
instantly attractive for snorkelers.  An added benefit is that beach goers
still get waves to play in, but when conditions are normally dangerous on
unprotected beaches, they will still have a nice gentle wave climate to
enjoy.

Another benefit, rather than having a property disrupted during a dredging
operation, is installation of Reef Balls is considered exciting by tourists
and there are no loud noises or disturbances to the beach.  Many hotels have
even made the building and deploying of there Reef Balls a guest activity!

Coral transplants can also be performed by guests...this makes them want to
come back year after year to see how "their" corals are growing.  It's a
great way to retain guest loyalty for hotels.

Additional Reef Balls can be deployed in the area to create snorkeling
trails, diving sites, or fish viewing areas from a dock or waterside
location.

If you want to learn more about Reef Balls as a submerged living coral reef
breakwater, we suggest a visit to www.artificialreefs.org where there is
over 10,000 pages of information about Reef Balls.  Try the Scientific
Reports section for specifics on breakwaters.

Other systems we work with include temporary porous groins and defensive
measures.  Both technologies are proven to be more environmentally friendly
than sand pumping...especially in sensitive coral reef areas.  So the next
time someone suggests "beach renourishment" near a coral reef...just say NO!
and tell them there are viable alternatives which don't harm the corals!

4) Royal Carribean reports continued volunteer building of Reef Balls at
Coco Cay in the Bahamas.  Deployments will begin when permits are finalized.

5) Do you have a website?  If so, please consider providing a link to our
sites
http://www.artificialreefs.org (Reef Ball Designed Artificial Reef Shared
Resources)
http://www.reefball.com (Reef Ball Development Group, Ltd.)
http://www.reefball.org (Reef Ball Foundation, Inc.)
http://www.eternalreefs.com (Eternal Reefs)

This is a simple way to help us achieve our goals of doing even more reef
restoration projects to help our world's oceanic ecosystems.  We'd be happy
to provide reciprical links from our website too.



Don't know what a Reef Ball is?  Reef Balls are state of the art designed
artificial reefs used primarily to restore ailing coral reefs or to create
new reefs for fishing, scuba diving, or other biological goals.  We have
conducted over 3,800 projects in over 40 countries and have deployed over
1/2 million Reef Balls. The Reef Ball Foundation is a 501(c) 3 non-profit
charitable organization dedicated to restoring our worlds oceanic reef
systems.