Fort Myers Florida Weekly

FLORIDA’S UNDERSEA WORLD

More than 3,900 artificial reefs provide marine habitats along our coast, bringing a $3.1 billion economic impact to the state.



 

 

AS

THE OUTLINES OF A MYSTERIOUS structure loom from the depths, anticipation grows.

You could encounter anything here, from a tiny seahorse to a

Goliath grouper weighing up to

800 pounds. Maybe a shark is monitoring your movements nearby. The outlines reveal a ship, sunken to the sea floor. It once may have served as a freighter, tugboat, military vessel, used for rescues or even drug smuggling.

Now it serves as an artificial reef, drawing hundreds of species of fish and a myriad of marine life where there was none before.

Sunken ships are among the many structures that can serve as artificial reefs.

There are more than 3,900 artificial reefs off the coast of Florida and growing. In fact, the number of artificial reefs in the state increased 65% between 2011 and 2020, according to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission.

They are homes to the wonders of what lies beneath. But you don’t have to be underwater to appreciate them or enjoy the benefits they offer.

A blue angel fish meanders by the Jeff Steel Memorial Reef off Charlotte County, 13.9 nautical miles out of the Stump Pass Inlet. PHOTO COURTESY OF CHARLOTTE COUNTY COMMUNITY SERVICES

A blue angel fish meanders by the Jeff Steel Memorial Reef off Charlotte County, 13.9 nautical miles out of the Stump Pass Inlet. PHOTO COURTESY OF CHARLOTTE COUNTY COMMUNITY SERVICES

Artificial reefs provide habitat for fish and other marine life, create more fishing sites, protect natural reefs from overuse, offer opportunities for scientific research, provide recreation, diving and snorkeling, stimulate tourism and of course, help drive economic growth.

Artificial reefs have a $3.1 billion impact on Florida’s economy, providing about 39,000 jobs and $250 million in state revenue, according to a 2014 study done for the FWC called “Measuring Florida Artificial Reef Economic Benefits: A Synthesis.”

As of July 2021, there were 3,897 artificial reefs off Florida’s coast, FWC stats say.

Just six months later, that number has increased to 3,924 reefs, Jeffrey Renchen, a fisheries biologist with the FWC’s Artificial Reef Program. The FWC program provides financial and technical assistance to coastal local governments, nonprofit corporations and state universities to construct, monitor and assess artificial reefs.

RENCHEN

RENCHEN

There are more than 400 artificial reefs alone off the coasts of Lee, Charlotte, Collier and Palm Beach counties.

Each county’s artificial reef program varies in size, but all follow the same state and federal regulations and permitting processes. Most programs started in the early 1980s or early 1990s.

“What we try to do with them is really kind of enhance all of the natural treasures that we have in the Gulf,” said Lesli Haynes, a marine environmental specialist who heads the artificial reef program for Lee County’s Natural Resources Division. “These artificial, manmade structures can help to give new habitat to these things that need it.”

And they are needed. A 2020 study by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Agency (NOAA) and the University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science found that only about 2% of original coral reefs are left off Florida’s coast. The main culprit, pollution, has been eclipsed by a new one: climate change.

HAYNES

HAYNES

Defining artificial reefs

“Artificial reefs are defined as material that is intentionally sunk in the waters off of Florida,” Mr. Renchen said. But not just any material. The parameters of what is permitted are strictly defined and regulated.

Artificial reefs have been around for hundreds of years, ever since mariners first realized that fish are drawn to sunken vessels as habitat. In the United States, artificial reefs began appearing in the 1830s when pioneers in South Carolina experimented using log huts, according to a study by the University of Florida Institute of Food and agricultural Science (UF/IFAS). The huts quickly deteriorated.

Through the years, practically any structure that would cause fish to congregate was used: cars, a washing machine, old tires, maybe a railroad car, school bus, bathtubs — creating a kind of underwater debris field.

As late as 1985, there was much media hoopla over a mint-condition, 1967 Rolls-Royce Silver Shadow sunk as an artificial reef off the coast of Palm Beach County — the donation of a local hair stylist.

A lobster checks out the Pegasus, a 110-foot steel tugboat that is now an artificial reef off the coast of Lee County. PHOTO COURTESY OF LEE COUNTY NATURAL RESOURCES DIVISION

A lobster checks out the Pegasus, a 110-foot steel tugboat that is now an artificial reef off the coast of Lee County. PHOTO COURTESY OF LEE COUNTY NATURAL RESOURCES DIVISION

Those days are long gone.

Allowable materials now are determined by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the Florida Department of Environmental Protection. They include concrete material, limestone boulders and heavy-gauge steel (quarter inch thick minimum).

Prohibited items include tires, fiberglass boats, plastic, automobiles and appliances.

The reef material is required to be heavy, stable, durable and nonpolluting.

“Really, concrete is one of the best types of artificial reef material because it’s going to stay where you put it,” Ms. Haynes said. “It lasts for a very long time, and it just creates lots of nooks and crannies when you stack it up, which allows for things to hide and just gives a lot more complexity to it,” she said.

Concrete items may include “reef balls” and “tetrahedrons.”

Katelyn Armstrong, environmental analyst and reef coordinator for Palm Beach County, completes a survey to monitor the health of the county’s natural reefs. KATELYN ARMSTRONG / COURTESY PHOTO

Katelyn Armstrong, environmental analyst and reef coordinator for Palm Beach County, completes a survey to monitor the health of the county’s natural reefs. KATELYN ARMSTRONG / COURTESY PHOTO

The reef ball is basically a half-ball with a flat bottom, Mr. Renchen said. “And they have a bunch of little holes all over. It attracts a lot of different fish.” They range in size from about 2 feet to 8 feet tall.

Tetrahedrons are large, pyramid-shaped pieces of concrete that range from 8 to 16 feet tall, he said.

Also, repurposed concrete, such as culverts used in building roads, can be used for artificial reefs, instead of dumping them in a landfill.

Within hours of the sinking of a new artificial reef, the bait fish move in, according to the UF/IFAS. It only takes three to five a few years for a new artificial reef to reach a level of maximum production for both fish and invertebrate species.

Undersea memorials

One trend is deploying artificial reefs to memorialize people who have died, Mr. Renchen said. “So that’s kind of a new thing that’s been going on, is people see the importance of just trying to commemorate those that they’ve lost.” They might put a plaque on a reef ball or tetrahedron with the person’s name and date of death, or maybe embed one of the person’s favorite items in the concrete, like a fishing pole, he said.

DEBRULER

DEBRULER

A few companies actually use the cremated remains of the person and embed it in the concrete, then incorporate it into the reef, he said. “So it’s almost like an underwater cemetery, if you will.”

One of FWC’s mandates is to track artificial reefs and coordinate with counties, nonprofits, marine contractors and others to try to manage the type of reefs that are going in the water, Mr. Renchen said.

Of the 3,924 artificial reef deployment sites in the FWC’s database, 2,185 are in state waters and 1,739 are in federal waters, he said.

The FWC does not issue permits for artificial reefs. That task goes to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in federal waters. In state waters, both the Army Corps and the state Department of Environmental Protection handle the permitting.

D’ARCO

D’ARCO

Coastal local governments, nonprofit organizations and universities can receive permits.

Permits are not given to individuals, so forget about creating your own private artificial reef.

Funding for artificial reefs comes from a combination of grants from federal and state governments, private donations, nonprofits and foundations, plus in-kind donations.

The FWC Artificial Reef Program provides grants for new reef construction and monitoring through the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Sport Fish Restoration Program and the state’s saltwater fishing license revenues,

Some counties also may have their own budgets to pay for deploying artificial reefs, as do some nonprofits that raise money for that purpose, or private donors who may want to have their name on a reef.

County-by-county

¦ Lee County has 124 artificial reefs so far. Its newest artificial reef, about 15 miles off the coast, is expected to be completed by September. The reef, which will include at least 1,000 tons of clean, repurposed concrete, will be paid for with a $120,000 grant from the FWC.

 

 

The reef will be placed within the Chris Koepfer’s ARC reef site, which is named in memory of the pioneer of Lee County’s artificial reef program.

The project also uses in-kind donations from the city of Cape Coral and Coastal Precast of Florida, Ms. Haynes said. Cape Coral’s donation is from the city’s utility expansion program. So instead of concrete catch basins winding up in a landfill, “we’re getting to recycle or repurpose them into artificial reef,” she said.

The USS Mohawk is perhaps Lee County’s premier artificial reef.

“Yep, she’s the crown jewel,” Ms. Haynes said.

The Mohawk is the first memorial reef dedicated to veterans. The 165-foot World War II Coast Guard cutter was deployed in 2012 and lies 28 miles west of Sanibel Island in 90 feet of water. It’s a favorite of divers, and whale sharks have been known to swim by.

A diver checks out the top of a replica of the Jupiter Lighthouse, while a Goliath grouper lingers at the bottom. The lighthouse was deployed by the Andrew “Red” Harris Foundation and the Town of Jupiter at a depth of about 60 feet along the Andrew Harris Reef Trail. SCOTT HARRIS / COURTESY PHOTO

A diver checks out the top of a replica of the Jupiter Lighthouse, while a Goliath grouper lingers at the bottom. The lighthouse was deployed by the Andrew “Red” Harris Foundation and the Town of Jupiter at a depth of about 60 feet along the Andrew Harris Reef Trail. SCOTT HARRIS / COURTESY PHOTO

¦ Charlotte County has 36 artificial reefs. Its newest reef will be 1.6 nautical miles due west of the north end of Englewood Beach, in 30 feet of water. It will be a memorial structure designed to honor six branches of military, said Roger DeBruler Jr., a marine resources specialist who manages the Charlotte County Artificial Reef Program.

The reef is in the design phase and estimated to cost about $120,000 when completed, he said. The county Marine Advisory Council will oversee the money.

Charlotte County’s most utilized reef site is the Charlotte Harbor Reef, lying inside Charlotte Harbor, Mr. DeBruler said. Almost one mile long, it includes U.S. 41 bridge material.

The other primary site is the Palm Island Ferry Reef. It’s actually a barge that was once used to ferry people to Palm Island, he said.

Mr. DeBruler finds the experience of diving on an artificial reef “very peaceful.” You’re weightless, floating neutrally in the water, he said. “It feels like you’re in outer space.” There are sounds, but they are muffled, he said. “It gives you a lot of time to reflect on other things without extraneous information coming in.”

Capt. John Sturm has another interpretation. For him, the dive usually involves spear fishing, so it’s pretty exciting — you’re on the hunt, he said.

Capt. Sturm, who owns Florida Marine Works in Port Charlotte, often dives with Mr. DeBruler. “Any diving experience is pretty amazing,” he said. “You never forget the first time you breathe underwater. It’s like being in an alien environment.”

Your experience can range anywhere from relaxation to excitement to exhaustion, he said.

But overall, “it’s refreshing,” he said. “Artificial reefs are a real asset to the community.”

¦ Collier County has 121 artificial reefs. Its artificial reef program is managed by the county’s Coastal Zone Management Department.

The most recent artificial reefs deployed were from 2015 to 2017, said Chris D’Arco, senior field inspector and the county’s artificial reef coordinator. These were six different sites, using 48,000 tons of material, including concrete and tetrahedron modules. Some of the funding came from the city of Marco Island, the city of Naples and private donations, as well as money from the BP Gulf Coast oil spill environmental restoration fund.

A highlight in the county’s artificial reef system is the Santa Lucia, a 47-foot turtle boat that once carried Cuban refugees to the United States. In 1997 it was towed off the coast to become part of an artificial reef, but sank before it reached its final resting place. Now it sits in 24 feet of water, about 3.8 miles west of Gordon Pass.

¦ Palm Beach County now has more than 150 artificial reefs, said Katelyn Armstrong, environmental analyst and artificial reef coordinator for Palm Beach County Environmental Resources Management.

The county has deployed more than 49 vessels, 110,000 tons of concrete, and 140,000 tons of limestone boulders in creating artificial reefs.

Existing reefs include a plethora of unique sites. Many nonprofit organizations are also involved in the program. There is the replica of the Jupiter Lighthouse, placed by the nonprofit Andrew “Red” Harris Foundation. The foundation was started by the family of Andrew “Red” Harris, who was killed in a snorkeling accident off northern Palm Beach County in 2014.

“They raise money to create artificial reefs,” Ms. Armstrong said. “We work with them all the time.”

The foundation created a reef trail in Jupiter about a mile long, with different artificial reef structures you can dive on all at once, Ms. Armstrong said. The lighthouse is part of the trail. “It’s beautiful underwater,” she said. “Divers love it.”

So far, the foundation has placed 291 modules and 1,250 tons of boulders totaling 134,000 square feet of artificial reef off the coast of Jupiter and Juno Beach, according to the foundation website.

The Ocean Rescue Alliance, another nonprofit, is working on the “1,000 Mermaids” eco-art project. The mermaid sculptures are created by body casting real people and sculpting them onto artificial reef modules so that their likenesses — and memory — may be preserved forever undersea. Ms. Armstrong said about 10 are already deployed off Palm Beach County.

“One of our most famous, I think, artificial reefs is the “Wreck Trek,” she said. This is a series of eight different ships that have been deployed just off West Palm Beach. If a diver comes up and get a new tank of air, you could continue on and dive all eight ships, she said. The current cruises through so you don’t really have to swim, you just float by.

A highlight of the wreck trek that is a popular dive site is the Ana Cecilia. Sunk as an artificial reef in 2016, the 170-foot confiscated freight ship was once used to smuggle drugs.

In 2021 alone, Palm Beach County deployed eight different barges full of reef material.

“So each time we fill up a barge, we call it a deployment,” she said. A barge can hold 500 tons.

Some of that new material included additions to the Andrew Red Harris Reef Trail in Jupiter. There was also an addition to a reef structure in Juno that was placed in the past five years, she said. The Jupiter and Juno additions were made of repurposed concrete culverts.

Another 13 reef balls were also placed off Delray Beach, an effort backed by several nonprofits.

“And then the ‘reef darts’ are really exciting,” she said. This is a project of the West Palm Beach Fishing Club. The “darts” are repurposed utility poles up to 55 feet tall, donated by FPL and other utilities. The poles are laid in a base and weighted, then taken out of Palm Beach Inlet and pushed off a barge at 500 feet, so they’re miles offshore, she said. They land upright, creating a kind of underwater forest. “So they’re not a dive site. They’re more of a fishing site.”

The county also has worked with The Reef Institute, a nonprofit out of West Palm Beach, she said. They placed a module in one of the county’s Intracoastal permit areas that is 10 feet by 10 feet by 6 feet, and creates a reef made up of 70% recycled material. It looks just like concrete, but it’s stronger or more resilient than usual concrete, as well as having a smaller carbon footprint, she said. “It’s an awesome reef with lots of interstitial space for fish and lobsters and invertebrates to climb around and hide in.”

In addition, the county is also working with the Coastal Conservation Association of Florida to design some new reefs, and in most cases, they donate the material or procure the material, she said.

Shana Phelan has been diving off Palm Beach County for 30 years. She is the administrator of the Palm Beach County Diving Association, and owner of Pura Vida Divers. Diving on artificial reefs, particularly a wreck, is completely different than natural reefs, she said.

“They have a different structure. They may have swim-throughs, an opportunity to look inside the wreck. It’s a different experience, but awesome!”

“There’s something different about a larger wreck when you approach it underwater,” she said. “It seems that it’s coming out of the blue. It starts to take shape, it starts to take form.” There is the anticipation of what is yet undiscovered. “What am I going to find?” ¦

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