Tag: Florida Keys

What’s a man-made reef?

the USS Spiegel Grove, sunken to be used as an artificial reef

Can you see the sunken ship?

In June 2002, the retired USS Spiegel Grove  was sunk in waters off Key Largo. At 510 toes (155.45 meters) lengthy, the ship was, on the time, the most important vessel ever deliberately scuttled for the aim of making a man-made reef.

Submerged shipwrecks are the most typical type of synthetic reef. Oil and gasoline platforms, bridges, lighthouses, and different offshore buildings usually operate as synthetic reefs. Marine useful resource managers additionally create synthetic reefs in underwater areas that require a construction to reinforce the habitat for reef organisms, together with tender and stony corals and the fishes and invertebrates that reside amongst them.

Supplies used to assemble synthetic reefs have included rocks, cinder blocks, and even wooden and outdated tires. These days, a number of firms specialize within the design, manufacture, and deployment of long-lasting synthetic reefs which might be sometimes constructed of limestone, metal, and concrete.

In 1986, the Thunderbolt was intentionally sunk in 120 feet (36.6 meters) of water four miles south of Marathon and Key Colony Beach in Florida. The ship’s superstructure is now home to colorful sponges, corals, and hydroids, providing food and habitat for a variety of sea creatures.

A very good view from contained in the Thunderbolt.

In 1986, the Thunderbolt   was deliberately sunk in 120 toes (36.6 meters) of water 4 miles south of Marathon and Key Colony Seashore in Florida. The ship’s superstructure is now house to colourful sponges, corals, and hydroids, offering meals and habitat for a wide range of sea creatures.

The Florida Keys Nationwide Marine Sanctuary incorporates a number of decommissioned vessels that had been sunk in particular areas for diving or fishing alternatives previous to the world’s designation as a nationwide marine sanctuary. One of the crucial well-known is the U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Duane, which served on the seas for half a century earlier than its ultimate task as an underwater haven for sea life.

Deliberate artifical reefs might present native financial advantages as a result of they appeal to fish to a recognized location and are subsequently fashionable points of interest for business and leisure fishermen, divers, and snorkelers. Nonetheless, the rise in unlawful dumping for the function of making habitat has led to vital poaching within the Florida Keys and subsequent high-profile arrests by NOAA’s Workplace of Regulation Enforcement. Marine particles continues to be an ongoing downside in these delicate environmental areas, and NOAA’s Marine Particles Program has helped present funding to take away particles within the Florida Keys.

What are the Totten Beacons?

Beacon pile in proximity to American Shoal lighthouse, completed 1880. Photo credit: M. Lawrence.

The rusty remnants of a Totten Beacon (foreground) situated close to American Shoal lighthouse. Photograph credit score: M. Lawrence.


Main beacon pile centered among three significantly shorter support posts. Photo credit: M. Lawrence.

Predominant beacon pile centered amongst three considerably shorter help posts. Photograph credit score: M. Lawrence.


In 1513, Spanish explorer Ponce de León sailed into the robust currents of the Florida Straits. Little did he know that inside a couple of years, these uncharted waters, which feed into the Gulf Stream, would change into a serious worldwide transport path to and from Europe and the New World.

As Europeans explored and colonized the Americas, they took benefit of the Florida Straits’ winds and currents. The winds modified course typically, nonetheless, simply pounding numerous vessels in opposition to miles of treacherous submerged coral reefs off the southern Florida coast.

By 1852, Lieutenant James Totten, the U.S. Military’s assistant to the Coast Survey, had put in 15 wood sign poles within the reefs to create extra correct charts of the Florida Keys. Native mariners shortly acknowledged that the poles themselves helped them safely navigate the reefs, and by 1855, Totten and his staff put in a second era of 16 poles utilizing a extra everlasting materials—iron. The “beacons” every displayed a letter, beginning with “A” and ending with “P.” Right this moment, remnants of Totten Beacons are protected as historic sources by the Florida Keys Nationwide Marine Sanctuary (FKNMS).

Right this moment, GPS and complicated digital navigation methods together with lighted navigational aids, buoys, radar beacons, and different visible aids maintained by the U.S. Coast Guard assist warn mariners of harmful coral reefs and shoals. FKNMS installs and maintains greater than 700 buoys for useful resource administration functions. Mooring buoys, that are spherical with a blue stripe, make it attainable for a vessel to linger on a reef with out utilizing an anchor and doubtlessly damaging fragile marine sources. Spherical yellow regulatory buoys within the sanctuary mark areas which have particular laws, whereas cylindrical white buoys delineate particular zones.