Stuart
News, May
22, 2003
Camps
will compete to build best reef balls
By
Suzanne Wentley staff writer
JENSEN
BEACH
— They wanted "reef balls."
They
got reef blobs.
But
after a second, more successful effort, Environmental Studies Center teacher
John Wakeman still plans to add "reef ball maker" to his resume.
On
Wednesday morning, Wakeman and other environmentally minded teachers and
scientists learning the art of reef ball making found the "quick-drying"
concrete they used had turned into a soupy mess overnight.
"We
popped the molds and they kind of collapsed," Wakeman said. "It looked soupy."
But
the group didn't give up.
A
second attempt Wednesday — this time mixing their own concrete — produced more
satisfying results.
So
the competition is on.
Students
participating in the environmental camps at the Environmental Studies Center and
visiting the Florida Oceanographic Society's coastal center this summer will get
a chance to prove that kids can do it better than adults the first time around.
"I
think the children can do this and be real excited about it," said Peg Clifford,
a third-grade teacher at Palm City Elementary School who plans to have her
students build the reef balls and learn about marine life next year.
Funded
by Martin County's artificial reef program, teachers and scientists met this
week at the center to learn the art of building reef balls, which will be
deployed in two areas of the lagoon this summer.
The
reef ball project will serve two purposes, said Kathy FitzPatrick, the county's
coastal engineer.
"It's
a combination restoration and education project," she said. "You learn about the
environment and why they work, and you make them and then deploy them. They'll
be monitoring to see what's happening, too."
Dozens
of reef balls, which will be sunk near the pier at Indian RiverSide Park and
along the shores behind the Florida Oceanographic Society, will be the first
artificial reefs in the lagoon.
The
patented reef ball design has been used in Lake Okeechobee, offshore in Palm
Beach County and even in nations as far away as New Zealand, said Larry Beggs,
vice president of the Bradenton-based Reef Ball Development Group.
To
build a reef ball, the sneaker-clad adults broke into teams and assembled
strange, crater-shaped fiberglass molds. They threw in a little sand — to add
crustacean-attracting texture — then sprayed the mold with sugar water to
prevent the concrete from sticking.
Then
they inserted a boat buoy the size of a basketball into the mold, surrounded it
with little inflatable balls and poured in concrete.
The
end result should have been a dome with holes where the balls had been, but the
concrete they used Tuesday was a pre-mixed, quick-drying kind that didn't live
up to its billing.
Fortunately,
the batch made Wednesday turned out solid and ready for lagoon life.
"We
know not to use that kind of concrete," FitzPatrick said. "We learned all the
things that can go wrong."
Reef balls
*Reef
balls are concrete reefs in the shape of hole-ridden, hollow domes.
| |
*Over
the summer, dozens will be placed in the Indian River Lagoon around the
pier at Indian Riverside Park and along the shore behind the Florida
Oceanographic Society. | |
*The
reef balls will shelter juvenile fish and provide a place for oysters to
grow in the shallow lagoon.
| |
*For
more information, go to www.reefball.com. |
Just press your "Back" button to read other articles