Reef Ball Foundation Photos and Project Description Database

An article in the July issue of Southern Boating described the work being carried out by NSUs National Coral Reef Institute (NCRI). Titled Life Support for Ailing Reefs (by Jan Gerner), the article described the destruction of coral reefs off Dania Beach in 1993 by the USS Memphis that has become part of a scientific research project and restoration effort by NCRI and is the basis for Ph.D. student Pat Quinns dissertation research. The researchers are using Reef Balls made of concrete suitable for the marine environment that allow tiny marine organisms to easily attach and also have holes of various sizes and cavities that mimic nature, providing shelter for fish and marine invertebrates. Richard Spieler, Ph.D. is the principle investigator of the project which uses different sized materials in the cavities to allow for differing refuge sizes that attract and shelter fish of many varieties, much the same way natural reefs do. The scientists are studying how the differing fish assemblages interact with the settlement, growth and mortality of coral. Richard Dodge, Ph.D., dean of the Oceanographic Center is the executive director of NCRI.

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