Divers in Destin Florida report that the 180 Pallet Balls deployed last year which were struck by the direct hit of a catagory 3 hurricane in 80 feet of water are exactly on their original location. However, all materials in Destin have suffered being buried in 1 to 1 and 1/2 feet of sand. Reef Balls have a hole in the bottom of each unit so that liftbags can be used to easily bring them back to the sand level for just such an event. Dive teams will bring the units up this summer if the sands do not naturally move back to the original depth. There are a large number of fish on the reef, as is the case at nearly every piece of structure in the Gulf that survived the storms. Nearly all other artificial reefs on the panhandle were damaged or completely lost in the hurricanes of 1995.
Slipper lobster were reported in abundance on the Sarasota Reef Ball reef. The reported coordinates are not at the center of the majority of the Reef Balls, only 8 Bay Balls are at the published coordinates. The center location will be reported as soon as good weather allows a monitoring by the county.
December 27, 1995
Larry Beggs (Reef Innovations and Diving Specialists Inc.) and Kenneth Grannell (Operations Manager of Disney Cruise Lines) visited the West Palm Beach Research Reef. Water was cold (64 degrees) and few tropicals were noted. The reef had apparently been visited by lobster takers since lobster tenticles were found around the Reef Balls. Visability was low even though high tide was at noon because of dredging work in the intracostal waterway. This work also coated the reef with a light dusting of silt. The normal grunts and snapper were present but the grouper and snook that are typically on the reef were absent (probably due to the colder inshore waters). Growth looks great.
John Marsden dived the brand new (4 day old) Sarasota M-17 Reef Ball site which is located just N/NW of 14124.5/44364.6. The Reef Balls were scattered nicely with a few groups of 4-5. One can easily swim from one to the other. 4-5 Black Grouper were reported on one Reef Ball. Bait fish have not moved in yet. Lots of hard bottom in the area which makes for an even more interesting dive.
Saltwater News and the Pelican Princess report that the Lane Snapper are running and the Pelican Princess customers are filling up their boats with Lane Snapper on the Reef Balls.
The Reef Ball reef in Cancun built by Atlantis Submarine lost a significant amount of invertebrate life as did all of the reefs in the area as a result of the "sandblasting" effect of the season's hurricanes. Atlantis reports, however, that the reef has rapidly recovered. The Atlantis Submarines visit the reef daily.
The hotel reports that additional underwater sculptures were placed in the water on November 30th. Fish have rapidly populated the Bay Balls and the underwater park is open to snorkelers.
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