HOLLYWOOD BEACH, Fla. – Right now, our planet is in the grips of the most devastating mass coral bleaching event ever in recorded history, affecting a staggering 84% of the world’s coral reefs.
Here in Florida, we‘ve lost more than 90% of our coral cover in the past 40 years. But a local nonprofit is fighting to save and restore our reef tract by deploying artificial reefs using art and tech to bring them back.
Right off the coast of Hollywood Beach, a near shore artificial reef is taking shape in the shallow turquoise waters of the Atlantic.
“The ocean should be accessible to everyone, and the beautiful thing about this site is we’ll be able to take people to snorkel it, and you don’t have to be a diver,” said Shelby Thomas, founder and CEO of Ocean Rescue Alliance.
Guardians of the Reef is composed of 50 structures recently deployed 10 feet underwater, about 300 feet from shore. It’s the latest project from the nonprofit Ocean Rescue Alliance, which is on a mission to restore and bring back South Florida’s lost coral cover.
“We have a beautiful reef here in South Florida,” Thomas said. “In fact, the third largest barrier reef in the world. Unfortunately, we’ve lost up to 90% of our stony corals, which provide that foundation, that skeletal framework that protects our coasts.”
That’s why structures like these are so important. They are made of pH neutral sustainable concrete, each weighing from 10,000 to 15,000 pounds, able to withstand even the strongest storms to reinforce coastal resiliency, provide habitat for marine life, and a strong foundation to give corals a new home.
“So it’s really a win-win, and we need these projects, especially now, with everything that’s going on in the environment,” Thomas said.
Just a few days before the modules were deployed, Local 10 met up with Thomas, who gave us an up-close look at the structures as they were being staged on a barge on the Miami River.
“So we have 14 artistic sculptures as part of this project,” Thomas explained.
Figures of mermaids, Poseiden, even an industrial diver are carved into some of the modules, providing an underwater museum of sorts.
The idea is that art will spark curiosity. Even if you’re not a fish hugger or a coral lover, who can resist taking an underwater selfie with a mermaid?
“So it’s a way to draw people into the ocean, to connect with it, to explore this beautiful underwater world that covers our planet,” Thomas said.
Each of the 36 habitat modules is outfitted with coral locks that can receive coral fragments ready for out-planting. Right now, about 250 corals are being grown at the We Restore Lab in Allapattah. The goal is to scale that number into thousands.
“What we’re able to do is take the corals from this nursery that are already fixed on the plug and simply come up and simply screw in the coral, just like a bulb -- so easy, so easy. Even a kid could do it,” Thomas said.
“The fact that we’re so close to shore not only makes it accessible to every beachgoer, but it also means that everybody who comes out, no matter what age, can also be part of the ongoing effort to restore our coral reefs,” she added.
Because they’re only out-planting soft corals, not the heavily regulated endangered stony corals, this is something the general public will be allowed and encouraged to do.
“And we need all hands-on deck, everybody helping us out-plant coral,” Thomas said.
Guardians of the Sea has four sites along Hollywood Beach. This is now the second artificial reef ORA has created for Hollywood. We were there when the Thousands Mermaid site was deployed back in November of 2022 about a mile offshore from the Hollywood Diplomat. We dove the site just a month later and already there were signs of life. Now, two years later the site is flourishing.
“The reef is vibrant,” Thomas said. “That site’s gotten recruitment of different soft corals, gorgonians, hundreds of fish!”
Thomas predicts the same thing will happen at the new site.
“If you build it, they will come -- that’s quite true with the fish. They move in right away,” she said.
The goal is to inspire all of us to care more and do more to protect our natural world.
“We have this beautiful planet, and we live here because of our oceans,” Thomas said. “And we hope this starts a revelation of ocean stewards and leaders that want to step forward and help heal our planet.”
Right now, Guardians of the Reef is active. To be safe, bring a dive flag with you if you plan to snorkel there.
ORA still hasn’t announced when the coral out-planting will begin, but Local 10 will, of course, keep you updated.