Reef Ball Foundation Photos and Project Description Database

The reef modules were constructed July 22nd thru August 5th 2007 at the Treasure Beach lot located to the South of the hotel. The construction process was performed by 6 people, 3 persons from Reef Innovations, Inc. and 3 local laborers. Concrete and sand was purchased from Butterfield Concrete, forklift by a local contractor and shells and rock from local sources. Local coordination and transportation was provided by Beaches and expertly directed by Michael Clarke, the Water Sports Manager. The fabricated units were deployed and transplants added the week of August 25-September 2, 2007. A total of 205 reef units were placed, with approximately 124 balls on the eastern site and 91 balls on the western site (5 balls were broken in process and counted as two). Of the 205 units, there were 20 pallet balls, 60 bay balls, 60 mini bay balls, 30 lo-pro balls, and 30 oyster balls with 50% of those being fabricated in the ?layer cake? design.

Two different techniques were used to attach the corals to the Reef Ball modules. The first utilizes a non-toxic type of putty that hardens within 24 hours. The second technique uses a special blend of Hydraulic cement which hardens within just a couple minutes. Utilizing the cement requires a team of people to mix, swim and apply, but is necessary for larger transplants that are not completely stable with surrounding water movements. Site one is anchored...all units have 2 sand anchors at each pod with stainless cable running thru all modules.....the anchors are beneath the sand and the cable is run along bottom of units and buried under sand as well...this is for the aesthetics. We were not sure of the anchor technique when building, all future units will be made with Fiberglass rebar holes to facilitate anchoring in an aesthetic way with more horizontal stability in mind. Site 2 will be anchored upon our return for the Turks job. We had ran out of sand anchors due to a contractors lack of performance on island. The sites are on sandy bottoms....jet probes proved the sand to be 5' plus in all areas we placed units. We surveyed the earlier sites Marsha deployed balls on in 1999 in same and shallower depths. The units settled 10-15 cm which created a self anchoring that has lasted all these years. Dr. Harris concluded that anchoring was not a big issue due to this and the units would settle and self lock. We added the anchoring we did just for extra security and peace of mind. In addition, this area is not subjected to major waves or currents in normal conditions but we do understand the storm possibilities The smaller cakes and balls that are serving as caps were secured to the lower units using both putty and cement attachments.

The coral transplants were taken from 2 different sites; the Third Turtle Beach Nourishment Project area and the sunken barge off of Water Cay. A total of 712 transplants were accomplished in the 7 day period, not including small corals (single finger corals divided from larger colonies) and red algal clumps (Amphiroa and Neogoniolython spp.) that were added. The western site (Site 1) received a total of 314 hard corals, 27 soft corals, and 65 ?live rocks? with associated invertebrates. The eastern site (Site 2) received 243 hard corals, 16 soft corals, and 47 ?live rock? formations. All transplants have been photo-documented for further monitoring, and as of 1 week post construction, are all in good health. The following photos show examples of the work.