Florida's coral restoration to cost $250 million, when do you need the money by?

How to make money with the oceans and save it

A recent article in the LA Times caught our attention this week.

Apparently to save two species of coral in Florida the cost will be close to $250 million dollars - and take 400 years.

Cue the lamentations from the conservation crowd, "$250 million dollars!?"

Our response was more reasoned, "When do you need the money, oh, and when do you want to start?"

If one plugs in the typical way of doing coral conservation, $250 million dollars will take approximately 30 years to raise. The net effect will be diffused among 20-30 coral and oceans conservation groups and in the end little will be done with the exception of 70,000 lbs of shrimp being consumed at various fundraising events - that's a fair amount of shrimp.

Let's look at this same conservation fundraising issue through our lens.

1. Florida resort hotels account for the largest single use group of natural nearshore reef systems.

2. Less than 1% of Florida resort hotels have coral reef protection or mitigation programs.

3. The primary reason Florida resort hotels do not invest in their near shore reefs is "monetization." (They have not figured out a way to make money from their nearshore reefs directly.)

4. Art inspired artificial reefs not only rebuild habitat, they are also fully monetized from day one.

5. If 10% of Florida resort hotels adopted art inspired artificial reefs they would generate an estimated $470 million dollars in tourism revenues a year.

What could be done with $470 million dollars a year in additional tourism revenues?

A lot of coral restoration with a timeline of 10-20 years for project completion.

We need to start thinking differently in regards to oceans, conservation, and the way we create oceans solutions. Numbers like $250 million should spark ways of thinking that take us outside our comfort zones and into the places where innovation and inspiration give us answers.

Who's in?

Grazing fish can help save imperiled coral reefs

Parrotfish habitat 

With great interest our team read a recent press release by FIU researchers. The latest data suggests grazing fish species could dramatically help reef systems in the Caribbean. 

Habitat and no take zones that support grazing fish are a next logical step. Caribbean resort hotels can play a large role in the creation of these unique sites for grazing fish species.

MIAMI, Feb. 24, 2015 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Grazing fish can help save coral reefs, but not all grazers are created equal, according to an FIU study published this month in Marine Ecology Progress Series.

A combination of factors is leading to the alarming loss of coral reefs worldwide, including ocean warming, disease and pollution. To make things worse, algae that can harm corals have also increased on many reefs. Fish and sea urchins that dine on the algae can help reefs recover but are unlikely to do the job alone according to FIU researchers Thomas Adam and Deron Burkepile.

The crystal clear tropical waters, which are home to coral reefs, are also a good environment for algae, which grow much faster than corals. If these algae are not quickly eaten by hungry herbivores they can smother adult corals and prevent young corals from finding a place to live.

The study, funded by the NOAA Coral Reef Conservation Program, examines impacts of herbivores on corals in the Caribbean, a region experiencing an increase in algae and significant loss of coral reefs.

In the Caribbean, algae began increasing in the 1980s, after spiny sea urchins — key grazers — were killed off by disease. Parrotfish eventually became the primary grazers on reefs in the region, but these herbivores are popular catches for fisheries.

"Clearly, parrotfish need to be managed for their impacts on reef ecosystems, and not just as a fishery resource," said Burkepile, abiological sciences professor who has spent most of his career studying imperiled coral reefs.

Parrotfish come in a number of varieties and play different roles on coral reefs. Some feed on microscopic turf algae, while others prefer larger seaweeds. Not all parrotfish live on coral reefs. The key for fisheries management, according to the researchers, is managing fish to keep them abundant in places where they can help corals.

"There are habitats where you find parrotfish, but the areas aren't particularly good for corals. It may make sense to allow people to fish in those locations," Burkepile said. "But there are also areas with no corals, such as seagrass beds and mangrove forests, that are important habitats for the babies of some parrotfish species.  That means that we have to protect those habitats too in order to ensure healthy populations of parrotfish on nearby coral reefs."

The findings contribute to a body of knowledge about the protection of coral reefs. While parrotfish are especially important for reefs, the researchers point out that a variety of herbivores are needed to help control algal growth. For example, surgeonfish eat algae that parrotfish do not like. More importantly, protecting herbivores is only one piece of a larger conservation puzzle.

"There are a lot of major concerns when it comes to coral reefs and protecting parrotfish is only one of them," Adam said. "Unfortunately, humans are doing a lot of things that have a negative impact on corals."

Media Contact: JoAnn C. Adkins
305-348-0398jadkins@fiu.edu
news.fiu.edu  

SOURCE Florida International University

Artificial Reef Tourism Paper - Fascinating!

Underwater LED art garden installation

Deploying artificial reefs on the seabed has become popular in diving management. This practice has been advocated as a means towards meeting both ecological concerns and recreational divers’ demands for diversification and themed experiences.

Nevertheless, the perceptions of the user community itself – the scuba divers – regarding the establishment of artificial reefs have received only limited attention in the literature.

Their views on critical issues concerning artificial reefs remain, as a result, fairly vague and speculative. The aim of the current paper is to bridge this gap in the literature by presenting the results of a study exploring divers’ attitudes and preferences with regards to the plan for a new artificial reef along the northern shore of the Red Sea in Eilat, Israel.

The findings indicate that the potential integration of this artificial reef was well perceived by the divers, regarding its contribution both to the diving experience and to the natural environment.

The divers also expressed their preference for large objects with a themed structure as artificial reefs, such as naval ships and airplanes, rather than more generic and amorphous forms, such as concrete blocks or pipes.

Overall, the study points toward the marketing potential of developing mass marine ecotourism through the deployment of artificial reefs at diving sites, as well as the prospect of promoting soft ecotourism in modified marine environments.

Complete paper here.

Artificial Reef Design Innovation For Tourism

New reef design and innovation

As you know we love artificial reef design.

For too long the concept of an artificial reef has been far too...artificial.

We live on a planet where nature provides us with an organic design library that stretches the imagination.

From sea shells to tiny plankton, our planet is a design wonderland waiting to be explored. And yet in the artificial reef space innovation, or the desire to try something new moves at a glacial pace.

This anti-design is a product of materials, project time length, budgets, and true innovation.

Naturally, when we see a breakout artificial reef design in use we get excited like last years effort in Valencia Spain. Kudos to the entire team for the effort, and if we may say so - more please!

From the article:

Replicas of Olympic rings, Roman jars and the Oceanographic -- the impressive Valencia aquarium building --, have been sunk off the beach to create Valencia's first artificial reef, this week.

Valencia's city council says the three structures are made of "non-invasive" concrete and weigh between 33,000 and 44,000 pounds (15 and 20 tonnes) each. With a length of 295 feet (90 metres) they have been placed on the sand sea floor some 590 feet (180 metres) from the beach at a depth of 13 feet (4 metres).

The council's "Valencia Reefs" project was conceived a couple of years ago and hopes to attract recreational divers. The structures are designed to be colonised by seaweed and other vegetation and attract fish, eventually forming a complete underwater ecosystem.

The project also has scientific and environmental objectives, involving academics from Valencia's Polytechnic University and other biologists and experts. Acting as a 3 year pilot study, it will be used to research how artificial reefs may prevent the loss of sand from the area.

Symbiodinium Thermophilum: Hot Reef Savior?

Hot reefs and even hotter megafauna

Researchers from the University of Southampton and the New York University Abu Dhabi identified the symbiotic algae in corals from Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, the world's warmest coral reef habitat. 

"We found that commonly applied molecular methods did not give enough resolution to distinguish the dominant symbionts of Gulf corals from those in other parts of the world's oceans," explains Professor Jörg Wiedenmann, Professor of Biological Oceanography and Head of the Coral Reef Laboratory at the University of Southampton. "However, when analyzed by alternative molecular biological approaches, we found pronounced differences that set this heat tolerant species clearly aside. We named it Symbiodinium thermophilum in reference to its ability to survive unusually high temperatures."

"Understanding how corals survive under the extreme temperatures in the Gulf will give us important insights into the ability of reef corals to handle the heat stress, which is threatening their survival in the oceans that are warming up in response to climate change," explains Wiedenmann. "We monitored the symbiotic partnership over several seasons to ensure that this association was stable through a range of thermal conditions," comments Professor John Burt from the New York University Abu Dhabi. "We can confirm that this new type of alga is the year-round prevalent symbiont across several dominant coral species from the Abu Dhabi coast of the United Arab Emirates.

"It gives hope to find that corals have more ways to adjust to stressful environmental conditions than we had previously thought," adds Professor Wiedenmann. "However, it is not only heat that troubles coral reefs. Pollution and nutrient enrichment, overfishing and coastal development also represent severe threats to their survival. Only if we manage to reduce these different forms of stress will corals be able to benefit from their capacity to adjust to climate change." 

Article here. 

Sudden Reef Loss, Tourism Disaster or Opportunity?

Resort tourism reefs in decline

Coral reefs are the building blocks of coastal marine life. Whether they protect developed areas from storm systems, create diverse fish stocks, or support a global multi-billion dollar tourism industry. The ever increasing loss of these complex systems is acutely felt, and 2015 will usher in the largest geographic loss of corals ever recorded according to climate scientists and marine researchers.

For waterfront resort developments around the world the loss of coral reefs has been largely ignored for the past 50 years. Resort developers have abandoned any development beyond the high tide mark. Look at any typical waterfront resort development in 2015 and you'll find deep investments in land based infrastructure with intricate pools and water parks, gardens, and almost no engagement with the oceans beyond a few kayaks, a ubiquitous sail boat, and a struggling dive program that has long been sub contracted out to a private company.

90% of global waterfront resorts feature C and D class reef systems and their immediate future as productive ecological spaces is waning. With their loss goes a worldwide $3 billion dollar dive and snorkel tourism market, increasingly migrating further afield creating new development in regions still considered pristine. The Maldives would be a prime example of this destination trend.

Artificial Reefs

Artificial reefs are a proven technology to rehabilitate regions suffering from coral loss and habitat degradation. The creation of artificial reefs at strategic locations offers new habitat opportunities attracting fish, coral, and tourism. Over a short time frame, submerged structures decrease demand on over-used and over-stressed natural coral reefs in tourism regions and allow for developers to create inexpensive water engagement spaces on their own resort footprint.

The State of Florida has one of the most robust and forward thinking AR programs on the planet and by any metric, both tourism and habitat rehabilitation, the decades long program has been wildly successful becoming a $253 million dollar cornerstone for Florida tourism.

Latest Trends, Innovation, Style

Uniquely designed "habitat tourism" site concept

The latest developments in artificial reefs have taken the concept of static and solely fish habitat based structures with little tourism interest and radically changed the paradigm. New technologies and artists are leading an Artificial Reef Revolution into a new phase called - Dynamic Reefs.

This artful design for underwater engagement comes from the need to create sustainability loops where the artificial reef becomes "the tourism attraction" and increased tourism revenues help add more habitat and sustain regional projects like Mangrove replanting.

Leading this revolution are a series of unique sites from Mexico to Dubai that are building for both the environment and tourism and the industry is taking notice along with green media, social media, and traditional media outlets.

The rapid global decline of coral reefs is having stunning ecological and economic consequences that will resonate over the next decade and beyond. Healthy coral ecosystems support local businesses and economies, as well as provide jobs through tourism and recreation.

Every year, millions of scuba divers and snorkelers visit coral reefs to enjoy their decreasing sea life.

Unprotected/monetized reefs

Even more tourists visit the beaches protected by disappearing reefs. Local economies receive billions of dollars from these visitors to reef regions through diving tours, recreational fishing trips, hotels, restaurants, and other businesses based near reef ecosystems. One estimate places the total global value of coral-reef based recreation and tourism at $9.6 billion (NOAA 2013) of the total global net benefit of coral reefs.

It is in this environment that billions of development dollars are being spent on waterfront resort projects that refuse to acknowledge anything past the high tide mark.

Think about that for a moment.

Resort developers typically ensure that every square inch of land based development property has a propose. Water parks, restaurants, rooms, entertainment facilitates, golf courses, and yet around the world millions of acres of waterfront resort space is turning into broken graveyards of dead coral, few fish, and garbage - yes garbage.

The time for a change is here, the recognition that resort developers have an additional two to five acres of revenue generating spaces past the high tide mark is the start of an undersea revolution. One where developments look past the high tide mark into unique underwater engagement projects that benefit both the oceans and their bottom line.

With the help of the next generation of marine engineers, artists, and industry visionaries, over two million square miles of global waterfront resort development spaces can become productive and sustainable.

Welcome to the Future of Tourism.

Shark Tourism Design Concept, Access and Education

Shore based shark tourism research hub

Our design teams vision for resort based shark tourism. 

Globally, shark tourism is worth over $800 million and in some places like the Bahamas responsible for close to $20 million per year in direct revenues.

LEED certified barge concept with solar/wind power and rehabilitated shipping container education hub. It's a "just add sharks" full concept.

Shark-based tourism provides economic benefits in areas that can support sustainable tourism ventures with adequate infrastructure and relatively reliable shark sightings. The tourism operators collect direct revenue from the activity and some governments receive additional taxes through permit, entry or tag fees. In Fiji, direct taxes from shark divers in 2010 were approximately US$ 5.9 million (Vianna et al. 2011).

Large deck space and education center view

There are also indirect economic impacts, or ‘economic multipliers’, benefits to the local economy through salaries paid and goods purchased (Orams 2002). For example, a tourist pays to stay at a local hotel, the hotel uses that money to pay for goods and services, which in turn serves as income for secondary and primary industries within a country. Tourists visiting Gansbaai, South Africa, to view great white sharks make up 50% of local business sales (Hara et al. 2003).

Shark-based tourism can also help regional communities through non-peak tourist seasons. On the Ningaloo coast of Australia, whale shark tours are an important source of income for these remote communities because they run on the off season (Jones et al. 2009). The impact of well managed shark-based tourism could provide significant economic benefits for the communities and countries that develop them.

Underwater Cultural Heritage at Risk: Managing Natural and Human Impacts

One of the better underwater tourism and cultural heritage books we have read in a long while. The download is free, hope you enjoy it.

With over 30 authors,the book canvasses a wide range of underwater cultural heritage sites from around the world. These include shipwrecks, fish traps and inundated offshore deposits in Asia, South America, the Pacific, North America, South Africa and Europe. The environments in which they are set range from tidal zones to the extreme depths of international oceanic waters.

In this book, heritage managers from government and private organisations share a wealth of experience in managing natural and human threats to these sites. Examples of natural threats include coping with the effects of marine borers, current and surge as well as metal corrosion. Risks arising from human activities are also addressed.

These include direct impacts (such as those related to diving on wrecks as well as commercial salvage) and indirect impacts associated with development projects (including construction of harbour facilities and dredging programs).

The solutions are varied, imaginative and effective.They highlight the real opportunities that exist for governments and organisations faced with similar challenges and make this publication an invaluable reference work.

Free download of the full text of the book - link here

Study may help scientists identify which coral reefs can be saved

With the world's oceans on the verge of what may be a year of significant coral bleaching, researchers have devised a simple way of predicting which reefs stand the best chance of recovery from a climate-triggered bleaching event.

The study, led by Australian marine scientists Nicholas Graham, Aaron MacNeil, and Shaun Wilson, come at a time when concerns are mounting among some reef specialists that a persistent buildup of warm surface waters in the western tropical Pacific could spark a significant bleaching event approaching the scale not seen since the late 1990s – the likes of which no one had seen before.

Reefs worldwide host some 25 percent of all marine species and serve as protective nurseries for newborn fish and other forms of marine life. They also serve as a first line of defense from storm surge for coastal communities and through fishing provide the main source of protein in the diets of more than 500 million people.

Coral reefs grow out of a tightly knit partnership between clear organisms known as coral polyps and tiny algae that inhabit cells that line the polyps' digestive system. The polyps protect the algae and provide them with the carbon dioxide they need for photosynthesis, as well as with other nutrients the polyps eject as waste. The algae provide organic compounds polyps need to survive and to produce calcium carbonate, which builds up a reef's structure. The algae are the flashy dressers, lending the polyps their unique colors.

By identifying two simple factors that contribute to a reef's recovery and appear to be powerful predictors of which reefs are most likely to recover, the researchers have accomplished something "extraordinarily important," she says. These are simple metrics that even the most cash-strapped conservation managers can apply.

Full story here.

Labor to spend $100 million on reef?

Big Question of The Day - How does a government spent $100 million dollars protecting a reef?

OPPOSITION Leader Annastacia Palaszczuk made the announcement on Green Island, off the Cairns coast, on Wednesday after taking a reef tour in a glass bottom boat alongside her environment spokeswoman Jackie Trad.

Ms Palaszczuk said a "high-level taskforce" would provide recommendations to government to determine how best to spend the $100 million over five years. The taskforce will have several targets, including reducing nitrogen run off by up to 80 per cent in key catchment areas by 2025. But Ms Trad would not be drawn on what concrete initiatives the $100 million would be spent on and whether the taskforce's targets would be legislated.

"We will make that decision after we listen to the evidence, after we listen to the experts," Ms Trad said. "Unlike (Premier) Campbell Newman who has picked a fight with everybody in our community ... (and) who doesn't believe in the science of climate change."

Ms Palaszczuk says it's too early to detail exactly what the money will be spent on because it was just the start of Labor's reef plan. She says Labor will "absolutely" prioritize addressing debt and reveal its long-awaited fiscal strategy on Friday, 15 days before the state poll.

Full story here. 

Artificial reef off Barakah nears completion

Concrete core-locs in development

Abu Dhabi: An artificially constructed reef near the UAE’s nuclear energy project has reached its final stages of completion, the Emirates Nuclear Energy Corporation (Enec) announced on Wednesday.

The reef is located 3.8km from the shoreline of Barakah, home of the UAE’s peaceful nuclear energy programme, an Enec press release said.
The almost 6,700 square metre reef, roughly the size of a football field, was constructed using recycled moulded concrete core-locs originally used in the assembly of Barakah’s coastal breakwater. Almost 1,800 of the large concrete units were carefully positioned on the ocean floor using a GPS-aided crane to create the underwater reef structure.

The lattice formation of the reef is designed to replicate a natural coral reef, and works to stimulate the local ecosystem by improving the existing seabed habitat, providing additional shelter for marine life, and encouraging biodiversity. The enhanced habitat is expected to attract a range of marine species including algae, invertebrates such as barnacles, corals, and oysters, and a variety of small and large fish.

Enec has also rolled out a number of other sustainability initiatives in recent months, including an intensive water conservation campaign which has seen the installation of water-efficient faucets at the plant, the development of an innovative car washing facility that recycles more than 80 per cent of the water it uses, and the application of recycling methods to reuse water from the project for uses such as irrigation. Collectively, these efforts have helped reduce Barakah’s water consumption by up to almost 100,000 gallons per day — the equivalent of more than 55 Olympic-sized swimming pools over the course of a year.

Mohammad Al Hammadi, Chief Executive Officer of Enec, commented on the development of the project: “The completion of the Barakah Artificial Reef Project is an excellent example of the positive measures we are implementing in line with our Environment and Sustainability Charter.”
The project has been developed in partnership with the National Marine Dredging Company (NMDC), and in line with guidance from Enec’s environmental regulator, the Environment Agency.

Complete story here. 

Dead coral reefs, rethinking Caribbean tourism

Pool based Caribbean vacations?

It's almost ironic that 50 years ago resort developers across the Caribbean built developments that touted "the oceans" as one of their primary features.

Access to stunning natural reef systems, large and inquisitive groupers, and a lifestyle that was about what we call the, "Resort Tri-Fecta," Sun, Sand, and Ocean.

That was 50 years ago.

Today, most Caribbean resorts have all but abandoned the oceans, building more lavish and complex land based amenities instead. Resort developers look at the high tide mark as their last responsibility to any given property, everything after that is - dead space.

This has given rise to catastrophic and systematic near shore reef loss.

Over the past 50 years a whopping 70% of near shore reef systems across the Caribbean are considered dead, dying, or in serious trouble. A recent decades long study from the IUCN (International Union for Conservation of Nature) reported 50% of all Caribbean reefs gone, and we may be facing a massive coral extinction event as early as 2030.

The Caribbean is home to 9% of the world’s coral reefs, which are one of the most diverse
ecosystems on the planet. Caribbean reefs, spanning a total of 38 countries, are vital to the region’s economy. They generate more than US$ 3 billion annually from tourism and fisheries and over a hundred times more in other goods and services, on which more than 43 million people depend.

50 years of development indifference before/after

That's the bad news, the good news is we can begin to reverse the changes with smart and innovative technologies designed for both tourism and the environment.

Just because resort developers have abandoned the oceans, offering bigger and more intricate land based amenities as a substitute, does not mean the market for ocean based exploration has diminished. In fact, globally, the market for both scuba and snorkeling is a robust $3 billion dollar market.

This market is savvy. It's members are connected to social media, they are very environmentally conscious, and they will spend premium dollars in places where reefs are pristine and ocean wildlife is available to them as it once was in the Caribbean. The rise of Maldives tourism is a prime example.

The time for a reassessment of resort based engagement with the oceans is now.

Habitat tourism zone on resort waterfront concept

At Reef Worlds, we envision a "return to the oceans" by resort developers and resort management companies across the Caribbean.

For many resort developers the sudden discovery of two-five acres of "monetized space" comes as a shock to them.

These spaces beyond the high tide mark were once considered places where natural reefs would eternally provide "free entertainment" to guests. As these spaces have withered and died for lack of management, much like land based gardens which resort tend to on a daily basis, the rise of man made, "Art Parks and Habitat Tourism" zones designed to create habitat for a wide range of regional wildlife is just beginning. It is the solution to a 50 year old tourism blind spot. 

Artificial reefs work. In the State of Florida artificial reefs are the backbone to a $250 million dollar tourism juggernaut. They have proven over the years to create habitat, support fisheries, and create tourism opportunities.

Artificial reef design is exploring new ways to create both habitat and exciting diverse near shore sites designed for both tourism and the environment. We call this new design, Dynamic Reefs.

Resort development across the Caribbean sits in front of over 300,000 square miles of spaces that could be "rehabilitated" with Dynamic Reefs. Imagine these as mini marine protected zones that also acted as tourism centers, educational centers, and revenue centers for resorts.

The technology, tourism need, and now clear indication from years of research that unless we do something we will lose what is left have created a "perfect opportunity storm" for developers and resort management companies to act.

We could, in just a few years, create thousands of square miles newly monetized habitat spaces in front of developments now in operation, changing the underwater landscape for generations to come.

Or we could continue on the same path we are on now.

Artificial Reefs Key to Mass Tourism Dive Industry

"In the tourism game creating memories is everything," explains the Head of Development at Reef Worlds, Dave Taylor.

“If you can create a tourism memory then you have won your game. You have won everything, because that’s a memory that never leaves a potential client, and they always come back to it,” Taylor told the Phuket Gazette in an exclusive interview.

Reef Worlds was established three years ago with the goal of working alongside resorts to create sustainable artificial reef systems that help reduce tourism pressures on natural reefs. Reef Worlds are fully monetized discrete mini-marine “protected areas” within the resort’s own footprint, allowing them to brand the signature underwater experiences of their guests, explained Taylor.

“It’s something NGOs [non-government organizations] have been trying to do for years; engage developments to take stake in their oceans. Reef Worlds combines conservation with tourism to get the best out of both worlds,” he said.

We now have the technology, interest and mass tourism to allow for a company like ours to come to the fore and really blow out traditional perceptions of what an artificial reef is, Taylor added.

The company, based in Los Angeles in the United States, targets mass tourism across the globe. Reef Worlds has already visited Phuket to talk with two potential clients and is now in the concept stage for those projects.

Taylor pointed out that despite the good work being done by many artificial-reef-building NGOs there is little tourism value in what they do – and tourism drives the economy, especially true in places such as Phuket.

“What we are trying to do is build iconic forms underwater. Forms that people will approach and know from a distance...then when they get really close, they are truly blown away,” Taylor said.
Reef Worlds is attempting to create a moment for tourists akin to when Doctor Howard punched through the Valley of the Kings and shined his light inside. When asked what he saw, he whispered back, “I see incredible things”.

“We’ve got a great team. There are guys (with us) who worked on major films, you name any Hollywood blockbuster that was really unique and eye popping (and) they worked on it,” Taylor explained.

During the design phase of a project, Reef Worlds looks at what iconic design forms are used at the resort and then works with those themes to create a “seamless transition from land to ocean,” Taylor said.

However, Reef Worlds is balancing it’s revolutionary push into the world of artificial reef construction with the essentials of sustainability.

By using crushed rock, from ancient coral beds, and low PH concrete for their structures they create a “super platform” for wildlife, such as corals to adhere to. These in turn attract the charismatic mega fauna like sharks and manta rays that tourists want to see, explained Taylor.

Taylor admitted Reef Worlds has turned down several projects due to the sites being unsuitable, as the potential clients had asked them to build on “A-class” reefs.

“(We were asked to build on) a beautiful staghorn coral forest, and they were like ‘let’s just move it’”, Taylor said. “They were missing the whole point,” he continued.

What Reef Worlds is looking for are white-sand bottoms or crushed coral flats that are denuded of life. “We promote ‘do no harm tourism'," Taylor said.

As part of their “do no harm tourism” Reef Worlds provides 10 years of follow-up analysis for their reefs.

Reef Worlds is confident that their pieces, weighing between 4,500 to 18,000 kilograms are not going anywhere and guarantees them against category five hurricanes.

“If they actually come off the bottom we’ll replace them at our cost,” Taylor said.

Each individual piece can be stamped up to five times allowing a resort that only has ten designs to have fifty shapes put into the water.

“We design it to be cost effective for the resorts,” Taylor said.

A three acre site might cost US$ 100,000 and a project with all the bells and whistles from a kiddy tide pool to baited monoliths could cost up to US$ 1 million .

The reefs are a marketing tool, as each site will be completely branded to the resort with its own name and back story, explained Taylor.

“You need a little vision,” admits Taylor, “I’ve had conversations with folks who don’t dive and have been in the resort business for so many years, and they just look at us blankly – wait there is something beyond the hide tide mark?”

After serious coral bleaching and the amount of pressure on reef systems, wildlife is on the move, and people are going with it, Taylor said.

“We are trying to hold down the fort by giving folks what they want to really interact with,” he added.

“A Reef Worlds artificial reef is the ultimate marketing tool, because no one else has it. Holiday memories are being created and branded to you [the resort].

“And guests are going to take videos and images and put them up on social media sites, which gives exposure in a way you just can’t get to yet,” he said.

Reef Worlds to build world’s largest underwater theme park [BD+C's 2014 Great Solutions Report]

Dynamic Reefs developed for tourism and the environment

Dubai is known for its gargantuan commercial building projects. The latest to be proposed is the world’s largest underwater theme park, designed and built by Reef Worlds.

Hollywood and theme parks have been walking arm in arm for years. But can they swim in sync?

Dubai, the second largest of the United Arab Emirates, is known for its gargantuan commercial building projects. The latest to be proposed is the world’s largest underwater theme park.

The creator of this five-acre aquatic experience is Los Angeles-based Reef Worlds, whose team includes film and television designers, dive-site developers, and marine biologists. CEO Patric Douglas notes that while scuba diving and snorkeling are a $3-billion-a-year business, most seaside venues don’t offer much in the way of special underwater experiences.

 “Many five-star resorts have one-star waterfronts,” says Douglas. Reef Worlds estimates there are 500,000 square miles of oceanfront at Caribbean and Asian hotels and resorts with limited appeal to adventurous tourists.

Douglas has been promoting the economic and ecological benefits of what he calls “habitat tourism,” which would give resort owners a way to monetize the waters off their beaches, while relieving some of the pressure from aquatic tourists on natural underwater reef systems that are endangered or dying.

Artificial reefs have been around for decades. Most were created with everything from sunken battleships to old tires—and most, says Douglas, are boring. “Who wants to look at a concrete triangle?” he asks. Reef Worlds intends to create “dynamic reefs” that would attract sea life, making them places people actually want to explore, he says. In Mexico, the company is developing an underwater art garden featuring 200 works of art that will take their cues from Mayan and Aztec iconography. Douglas calls this “Mayan Gods in 3D.”

Douglas says Reef Worlds will be able to bring in projects at 10-20% of the cost of a typical resort water theme park, which can run $70 million to build and $10 million a year to market and maintain.

Reef Worlds’ “Pearl of Dubai” project will be located in the waters around the World Islands development. Renderings suggest the park might be modeled after the mythic Lost City of Atlantis. Reef Worlds has five projects in varying stages of development in Dubai, Qatar, the Philippines, and Mexico.

Reef Worlds has had less success in the Caribbean: two years ago, Douglas found no takers when he offered $4.5 million to resorts in Jamaica to install underwater parks there. “It’s a vision thing,” he says, “and we’re playing the long game.”

Read about more innovations from BD+C's 2014 Great Solutions Report.

Shark Conservation - Bright Concepts for 2015

Things we like for 2015 - smart conservation outreach for children.

Globally shark populations are under siege with close to 80 million sharks harvested each year for just their fins. If we are going to make a dent in this rather gruesome statistic it will take the next generation to understand sharks in a better way.

Enter a new book called, "Sharks Don't Scare Me!"

The 'Aquatic Aussie' is an adventurous character that will introduce children to his amazing world while making friends along the way. Beautifully illustrated, the series is written for children of all ages and promotes a healthy fascination for the ocean, its animals and the scientists that commit their lives to the pursuit of knowledge and conservation.

Great stuff. 

Move to use Abbot Point dredge material to create ‘Dynamic Reef’

Reef Worlds, a Los Angeles-based underwater artificial reef designer, has proposed taking the 3m cu meters of dredge material produced at Abbot Point and “fixing it in place” by creating a series of art structures. 

 

A spokesman for the company said Australia needs to continue to attract underwater tourism to the region and protect the Great Barrier Reef.

In addition, “dynamic reefs” are designed to create both a sustainable underwater habitat and tourism for the region.

The amount of proposed dredged material mixed with a low PH concrete could create an additional 10 sq miles of marine habit that also acted as a focus for Australian artists interested in expressing Australian culture though artificial reefs, the spokesman added.

Dredging at Abbot Point will begin in March 2015.

Reef Worlds director of development Dave Taylor said the company is currently working on unique habitat tourism projects in the UAE and has plans to expand across the world with forward thinking waterfront resort developers from Dubai to the Philippines in places where tourism and regional habitat could use a boost.

“We will work with carefully selected underwater habitat projects that directly support our clients’ sustainability and revenue goals,” Mr Taylor said.

Artificial reefs in the US state of Florida are said to generate close to US$250m dollars in direct tourism revenues.

“Giving new tourism life with dredging spoils that create and build tourism and habitat spaces along coastlines is in the best interests of all parties currently mired at Abbot Point with no solution in sight,” Mr Taylor added.

Story here.

Major coral bleaching in Pacific may become worst die-off in 20 years, say experts

Resort developers take note coral reef loss = revenue loss, there are solutions.

www.reefworlds.com

Scientists warn extreme sea temperatures could cause a “historic” coral reef die-off around the world over the coming months, following a massive coral bleaching already underway in the North Pacific. Experts said the coral die-off could be the worst in nearly two decades.

Reports of severe bleaching have been accumulating in the inbox of the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) Coral Reef Watch programme since July.
A huge swathe of the Pacific has already been affected, including the Northern Marianas Islands, Guam, the Republic of the Marshall Islands, Hawaii, Kiribati and Florida. Some areas have recorded serious bleaching for the first time.

“On a global scale it’s a major bleaching event. What it may be is the beginning of a historic event,” said Coral Reef Watch coordinator Dr Mark Eakin.

In the Marshall Islands, bleaching of unprecedented severity is suspected to have hit most of the country’s 34 atolls and islands. The Guardian witnessed devastated expanses of coral that look like forests covered with snow.

Warm water will soon begin hitting reefs in the southern Pacific and the Indian Ocean as the seasons and currents shift. Eakin said coral watch modelling predicts bleaching on Australia’s Great Barrier Reef as early as January.

The Navy’s New Robot Looks and Swims Just Like a Shark

The American military does a lot of work in the field of biomimicry, stealing designs from nature for use in new technology. After all, if you’re going to design a robot, where better to draw inspiration than from billions of years of evolution?

The latest result of these efforts is the GhostSwimmer: The Navy’s underwater drone designed to look and swim like a real fish, and a liability to spook the bejeezus out of any beach goer who’s familiar with Jaws.

The new gizmo, at five feet long and nearly 100 pounds, is about the size of an albacore tuna but looks more like a shark, at least from a distance. It’s part of an experiment to explore the possibilities of using biomimetic, unmanned, underwater vehicles, and the Navy announced it wrapped up testing of the design last week.

The robot uses its tail for propulsion and control, like a real fish. It can operate in water as shallow as 10 inches or dive down to 300 feet. It can be controlled remotely via a 500-foot tether, or swim independently, periodically returning to the surface to communicate. Complete with dorsal and pectoral fins, the robofish is stealthy too: It looks like a fish and moves like a fish, and, like other underwater vehicles, is difficult to spot even if you know to look for it.

Complete story from Gizmondo. 

Artificial Reefs - Future of Tourism Summit, Dubai

We're back from a short trip to Dubai and the UAE with keynote speaking engagements at Dubai's Future of Tourism Summit.

The Future Tourism Summit 2014 brought together 100 senior executives from the regional travel & tourism industry with technology providers to create an ecosystem which enhances customer experience and improves business operations, while establishing partnerships vital to the creation of smart and sustainable destinations.

"Dubai has an overabundance of vision," says Patric Douglas, the CEO of Reef Worlds, an underwater design company.

Pearl of Dubai is designed as a sustainable five-acre underwater park with a Lost City of Atlantis theme. In addition to luring scuba divers and snorkelers, the underwater attraction design acts as a huge artificial reef.

"We're building for two clients: One has credit cards, the other has fins," joked Douglas.

" Across the UAE region they understand next generation tourism. They can conceive of it and they can produce it," he says.