Reef Ball Foundation Photos and Project Description Database

The Reef Balls themselves were built in Antigua by the Stanford Development Company Ltd. and assisted by trainers from Reef Innovations (Reef Innovations is a Reef Ball authorized contractor based in Orlando, Florida). Captain Bailey skillfully operated the barge and tug daily and Vernon Krump provided the construction site, equipment and labor for Stanford. The construction site had an average of 100 workers building Reef Balls 24 hours per day, 7 days per week. Using Reef Ball Foundation and local concrete experts, a special concrete mix was developed that allowed the Reef Balls to be cast and deployed within 24 hours while still retaining the special marine friendly formulations needed to create a perfect biological reef. The Reef Ball Foundation uses special additives to make the concrete's pH match that of natural seawater so that corals and other marine life can grow on the Reef Balls easily. The outside surfaces of the Reef Balls are textured so that coral larvae can easily attach and grow into adult colonies. Even the holes in the sides of the Reef Balls are designed to create whirlpools so that the corals can grow faster since they rely on currents to bring food. Reef Balls have been used in over 3,500 projects worldwide with over 0.5 million Reef Balls deployed in 47 countries. Reef Balls are the most advanced designed reef modular system in the world and have been reef builders' material of choice for over 10 years. Reef Balls can be adapted for a wide variety of reef building needs, but the Antiguan project was the first project to use nearly all of the technologies developed by Reef Ball in a single place. Casting 24/7 in over 40 complex mold systems using a large variety of specialized techniques such as creating special anchor holes, 'Layer Cake' style reef balls, and 8 different sizes of Reef Balls...building over 2000 Reef Balls in 3 weeks of intensive production and 3600 Reef Balls in 4 months.

The Reef Ball Foundation activated its Coral Reef Propagation and Coral Reef Rescue teams which are composed of hundreds of experts from around the world willing to volunteer their time, when coral reefs are threatened. For the Antigua project, over 274 volunteer man-days were used complete the coral propagation and rescue missions. This effort included experts from Australia, England, Holland, Mexico, Curacao, France, Italy, Antigua, Florida, Georgia, New York, Arizona, Turks and Caicos, Mississippi, Malaysia and more. Local volunteers from Antigua greatly assisted the efforts, making this not only the largest reef restoration effort ever...but also one based largely on volunteers. The volunteer teams did more than just transplant and propagate corals...they also did a biological census, reef clean up, created a genetic coral bank, rescued imperiled sea life, and educated local Antiguans on the importance of the coral reefs and how to keep up the health of the new reef. The volunteer teams documented 73 fish species, 71 invertebrates spp., 30 corals spp. and 26 algal spp. (plus a turtle) now on the reef. Every day the species list continues to grow.

As part of the overall project plan, Stanford Development Company Ltd. is going to fully restore the windward beach to its original condition. About 50 years ago, non-beach compatible sand from dredging operations was placed on Maiden Island by the U.S. Navy. The dredging was for the creation of a channel between Maiden Island and Antigua. Therefore, Stanford Development Company Ltd. has removed all the dredged sand and will recover it with natural beach sand. The breakwater reef was specifically engineered to lower the wave energy in the beach area so that the new natural sand will remain stable. Stable sand means clearer water, which is healthier for the coral. Many engineers were involved directly or indirectly in the design of the breakwater, including Greg Morris and Associates (Dr. Greg Morris), Caribbean Oceanography Group (Dr. Alfredo Torruella), and Dr. Lee Harris who is a consulting breakwater engineer and a professor at the Florida Institute of Technology. The U.S. Army, Corps of Engineers, Engineer Research and Development Center conducted extensive wave tank tests for a similar planned Reef Ball submerged breakwater demonstration project for Miami which had direct relevance to Maiden Island's design

Stanford Development Company Ltd., and the Reef Ball Foundation created hundreds of yards of snorkeling and diving trails. These trails provide visitors a complete tour of the reef to see the wondrous and abundant reef life now present. Here is a hand drawn map created by the Coral Team to help guide you to various sections of the reef.

The following species were found on the Maiden Island Windward Reef Ball Breakwater reef within four months of construction of the Reef. A more formal report of species present prior to the reef and species present after construction of the reef is being prepared but this quick report is to allow anyone visiting the project to report sightings of new marine life to use for inclusion in that report. Fish Common Name Scientific Name Angelfish French Queen Blennies Saddled Boxfish Scrawled Cowfish Spotted Trunkfish Butterfly fish Banded Foureye Spotfin Chromis Damselfish Beaugregory Cocoa Dusky Sergant Major Threespot Eel Green Moray Sharptail Eel Spotted Moray Filefish Orangespotted Whitespotted Goatfish Spotted Yellow Gobies Goldspot Neon Masked Pallid Sharknose Grouper Soapfish Barred Hamlet Grunts Bluestriped French Cottonwick Jacks Bar Yellow Parrotfish Bucktooth Princess Queen Redband Striped Pufferfish Balloonfish Bandtail Puffer Porcupine Sharpnose Puffer Rays Southern Stingray Spotted Eagle Seabass Creole fish Sharks Blacktip Lemon Scorpionfish Reef Snappers Gray Mutton Schoolmaster Yellowtail Squirrelfish Blackbar Soldier Reef Squirrelfish Surgeonfish Blue Tang Doctorfish Triggerfish Wrasse Bluehead Clown Slippery Dick Yellowhead Puddingwife Others Barracuda Bandtail fish Flying Gurnard Jawfish Jolthead Porgy Peacock Flounder Permit Pompano Mojarra, Yellowfin Needle fish Sand Diver Trumpetfish Dolphin (mammal) Coral Common Name Scientific Name Angular Sea Whip Pterogoria anceps Bent Sea Rod Plexaura flexuosa Black Sea Rod Plexaura homomalla Black Sponge Blushing Star Coral Stephanoceonia intersepts Boulder Star Coral Montasraea annularis Bright Green Finger Porites Porites Corky Sea Finger Briareum asbestinum Diffuse Ivory Bush Coral Oculina Diffusa Elkhorn Acropora Palmata Encrusting Gorgonians Erythropodium caribaeorum Finger Porites Porites Finger Porites Divaricata Fire Coral Millipora Fused Staghorn Acropora Robusta Gorgonians Octocorals Green Sponge Groved Brain Coral Diploria labyrinthiformis Knobby Brain Coral Dilorria clivosa Knobby Sea Rod Eunicea spp. Lesser Starlet Coral Siderastrea radians Lettuce Coral Agaricia Agaricites Mustard Hill Coral Porites astreoides Porous Sea Rod Pseudoplexaura spp. Purple Sponge Red Sponge Rose Corals Manicina areolata Sea Plume Pseudopterogorgia spp. Sea Squirt Sea Whip Pterogoria anceps Solitary Disks Scolymia wellsi Staghorn Acropora Cervicornis Swollen-Knob Candelabrum Eunicea mammosa Symentrical Brain Coral Diploria stringosa Yellow Pencil Coral M. Mirabellus Invertebrates Common Name Scientific Name Sponges Porifera Candle sponge Verongia astuaris Branching candle sponge Verongia longissima Red finger sponge Haliclona rubens Green sponge Haliclona viridis Heavenly sponge Dysidea ethera Red boring sponge Cliona lampa Chicken liver sponge Chondrilla nucula White sponge Geodia gibberosa Yellow boring sponge Siphondictyon coralliphagum Fire Sponge Tedania ignis Hydroids, Jellyfish, Anemones Cnidaria Algae hydroid Thyroscyphus ramosus Branching hydroid Sertularella speciosa Stinging hydroid Macrorhynchia philippina Christmas tree hydroid Pennaria dysticha Moon jelly Aurelia aurita Upside down Jelly Cassiopeia xamachana Sea wasp Carybdea alata Corkscrew or ringed anemone Bartholomea annulata Pink Tipped anemone Condylactis gigantea Banded tube dwelling anemone Arachnanthus nocturnes Encrusting gorgonian Erythropodium caribaeorum Segmented Worms Annelida Medusa worm Loimia medusa Golden tube worm Cistenides gouldi Christmas tree worm Spirobranchus giganteus Magnificent feather duster Sabellastarte magnifica Elegant Fanworm Hypsicomus elegans Green Bristleworm Hermodice carunculata Lug worms Arenicola cristata One or more of the following: Banded feather duster Sabella melanostigma Red banded Fanworm Potamilla forticula Balck spotted fanworm Branchiomma migromaculota Crabs, Shrimps, Lobsters Crustacea Green reef crab Mithrax sculptus Ghost crab Ocypode quadrata Fiddler Uca sp. Spider Mithrax sp. Decorator crab Stegocionops furcata Red Hermit crab Petrochirus dioganus Common rock mantis shrimp Stomatopoda gonodactylus Pederson?s cleaning shrimp Periclimenes pededsoni Spiny Lobster Panulirus argus Slipper Lobster Panulirus scyllarides Snails, Squids, Octopuses, Bivalves Mollusca Reef squid Sepioteuthis sepioidea Lettuce nudibranch Tridachia crispata Other nudibranch Tridachia sp. Spiny or thorny oyster Spondylus americaus Flame Auger Terebra taurinus Murex Murex cabriti Atlantic Natica Natica canrena Keyhole Limpet Fissurella sp. Clam Lima Flaming scallops Sharp turn scallop Pecten ziczac Cerith Cerithium sp. Octopus Octopus briareus Turbo snail Astreaca sp. Queen Conch Strombus gigas Sea Stars, Sea Urchins, Sea Cucumbers Echniodermata Reticulated or cushion starfish Oreaster reticulates Harlequin brittle star Ophiodena appressum Basket star Astrophyton muricatum Rock boring urchin Echniometra lucunter Varigated or collector urchin Lytechinus variegatus Sea egg Tripneustes venticosus 4 sided sea cucumber Stichopus badionotus Donkey Dung Sea cucumber Holothuria mexicana Unidentified sea biscuits Tunicates Chordata Painted tunicate Clavelina picta Black tunicate Ascidea nigra Other Sea squirts Flamingo Tongue Algae Y Branched Algae Dictyota sp. Leafy Flat-blade Alga Stypopodium Zonale White Scroll Alga Padina Jamaicensis Encrusting Fan-leaf Alga Lobophora variegata Watercress Alga Halimeda Opuntia Large Leaf Watercr. A. Halimeda Discoidea Stalked Lettuce Alga Halimeda Tuna Small-Leaf Hanging Vine Halimeda Goreaui Large-Leaf Hanging Vine Halimeda Copiosa Three Finger Leaf Alga Halimeda Incrassata Green Jointed-Stalk A. Halimeda Monile Flat-Top Bristle Brush Penicillus Pyriformis Green Feather Alga Caulerpa sertularoides Oval-Blade Alga Caulerpa Prolifera Sea Pearl Ventricaria Ventricosa Green Bubble Weed Dictyosphaeria Cavernosa Papyrus Print Alga Anadyomene Stellata Paddle Blade Alga Avrainvillea Longicaulis Mermaid's Fan Udotea sp. Pinecone Alga Rhipocephalus Phoenix Tubular Thicket Algae Galaxaura sp. Pink Segmented Alga Jania Adherens Flat Twig Alga Amphiroa Tribulus Y-Twig Alga Amphiroa Rigida Lavender Crust Algae Phylum Rhodota Caulerpa Toxifolia

Stanford Development Company Ltd., and the Reef Ball Foundation created hundreds of yards of snorkeling and diving trails. These trails provide visitors a complete tour of the reef to see the wondrous and abundant reef life now present. The trails are marked by Reef Balls that have a 12 inch by 12 inch square markings to make navigation easy, or for possible future educational signs.