Scuba diving Fujairah - artifical reefs take hold

A PLAN to use artificial materials to rehabilitate coral reefs 100 metres off the coast of Fujairah seems to be working, leaders of a conservation project have revealed.

Last June, 15 large reef balls – dome-shaped, concrete spheres with holes in the sides and top, some weighing more than two tonnes – were placed in the water in front of Le Méridien Al Aqah Hotel.

An additional 20 have been placed since, and an exploratory dive this week revealed that a variety of young and adult fish have made the reefs their home.

The structures are also covered in barnacles and what is believed to be the beginnings of soft coral.

“We’ve been monitoring the progress of the reef closely since we laid the first blocks,” said Simon Tambling, the managing partner of Al Boom divers.

The goal is to have soft corals form in five years, followed by hard versions in the long-term.

Patrick Antaki, the general manager of Le Méridien Al Aqah, which is also involved in the project, said the artificial reef was meant to help restore damage done by a cyclone that hit the coast in January 2008.

"We wanted to be responsible for the environment that directly surrounds us,” he said.

There are already plenty of juvenile banner fish, puffer fish and jacks using it as their home.

USS Vandenburg Artificial Reef

Florida is fast becoming a divers' wreck heaven with plans to sink another to decommissioned US Navy warship as an artificial reef.
The 160m-long former Second World War missile tracking ship, USS Hoyt S Vandenberg will become the second largest artificial reef in the world when it is sunk six miles off Key West at some point this year.

The USS Vandenburg will join the USS Spiegel Grove and USS Oriskany as a diver's playground

and the local economy and the attraction will benefit to the tune of an estimated $6.2 million a year.

Reefmakers, the company being the project said on Friday (Feb 6) the Vandenburg was moved from the location where it had been impounded to a new shipyard where final preparations for the tow to Key West will take place.

"After more than 10 years of alternating heartbreak and hope, the Vandenberg team and our loyal supporters are beginning to feel the sweet breezes of success filling our sails at last," the company said on its website.

"We have stuck with this project because of our dedication, as divers, to the underwater environment; because of our commitment to our friends and neighbors in this community who work as captains, mates, divemasters, fishermen, charterboat operators and all those in the hospitality industry; and because of the veterans, sailors, technicians, immigrants and refugees who want to see this history honored and for the ship to have a meaningful ultimate purpose."

There's a great video on the preparation work to ready the ship for its underwater destination and it looks an imposing dive destination.

There is no firm date for the sinking but Tom Ingram, executive director of the Diving Equipment and Marketing Association (DEMA) said it would be a big boost to the local economy.

"We could not be more excited about the positive benefits the sinking of the USS Vandenberg will provide to the local Florida economy."

Let's hope the sinking goes better than that of the Spiegel Grove which required Mother Nature to tidy up the man-made mess.

The 155metre ship turned turtle and ended up on its side when it was scuttled in the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary in 2002.

Thanks to powerful waves and currents generated by Hurricane Dennis the 6,880-ton hulk was finally flipped onto its keep on the ocean floor in 2005.