Paradise Cove Reef Balls 021618 from Electric City Technology on Vimeo.
Chesapeake Bay First Reef Ball© Deployment
The Maryland Department of Natural Resources sponsored a 2003 field test to assess the suitability of Reef Balls for catching a natural oyster spat set. The Maryland Environmental Service contracted the project and coordinated and managed the deployment. The original plan was to place 75 Reef Balls in the oyster sanctuary east of Point Lookout. Since this was a field test rather than a fishing reef, Tom O’Connell, MD DNR ‘s sponsor, accepted my suggestion as project manager for MES, to split the deployment between 3 sanctuaries, thereby increasing the potential for a natural spat set. This decision resulted in one of the alternate sites in upper Tangier Sound receiving a natural spat set. This video shows the first deployment trip off Point Lookout. The thriving oyster reef that subsequently developed at the alternate site is documented by a Chesapeake Bay Foundation video made a decade later that is on the CBF website. It was this reef, a field trial at the Horn Point oyster hatchery for hatchery spat sets directly onto Reef Balls, Reef Ball pour training and demonstration project sponsored by MES and the Oyster Recovery Partnership on Tilghman Island for the Tilghman Island Fish Haven, collaboration by MES and CBF for early Reef Ball pours for Maryland Bay waters, and success of Reef Balls with hatchery spat set at CBF’s Shady Side oyster hatchery with deployment at Hollicutts Noose Fish Haven, that were the foundation for the current use of Reef Balls for oyster restoration and fishing reefs in Bay and tributary waters. Recent Reef Ball reefs include 240 Reef Balls at Winchester Lump in the Severn River and Reef Balls that were poured at National Harbor and placed in Smoot Bay on the tidal Potomac.
From Wade’s post on Facebook.
a video at Chesapeake Bay Fishing Reefs on Facebook about the first deployment of Reef Balls in Maryland Bay waters. This Reef Ball project laid the foundation for today’s projects in Bay and tributary waters, including the Reef Balls that were poured at National Harbor and placed in Smoot Bay. I had the good fortune to direct the first placement in the video and participate as a volunteer for the National Harbor pour.
Tetra Tech Living Shoreline Project in Louisiana
The Tetra Tech team used analytical and numeric modeling to evaluate reef breakwater product alternatives in Louisiana
Photo Courtesy of CPRA’s St. Bernard Parish Living Shoreline Demonstration Project, funded by the Coastal Impact Assistance Program
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The Louisiana coastline loses an average of more than 16 square miles of wetlands per year according to the U.S. Geological Survey. The Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority of Louisiana (CPRA) is the single state entity with authority to develop, articulate, implement, and enforce a comprehensive coastal restoration and protection master plan to reduce hurricane storm surge flood impact, restore Louisiana’s bountiful natural resources, build land to protect critical energy infrastructure, and secure Louisiana’s coast now and for future generations. CPRA selected the Tetra Tech team to design a bio-engineered oyster reef demonstration project to show the potential of using reef breakwater product to combat coastal erosion in St. Bernard Parish. This project was funded through the Coastal Impact Assistance Program (CIAP) and is part of Louisiana’s Comprehensive Master Plan for a Sustainable Coast.
The project is located in St. Bernard Parish’s coastal fringe marsh, which is susceptible to high rates of shoreline erosion due to wind-wave action. The project aimed to establish a living shoreline along 21-miles of coastal fringe marsh to dissipate wave energy before it reaches the shoreline thereby protecting vulnerable shoreline and the valuable marsh behind.
The Tetra Tech team evaluated reef breakwater products to serve as a first line of defense for coastal marshes in the project area, helping to sustain the lower Biloxi Marsh. The project’s secondary goals were to allow sediment accretion between the shore and reef to create new land; stimulate oyster growth and increase the biodiversity in the immediate area; and provide CPRA with valuable data on the performance of various configurations of the selected products that can be used to design more effective projects in the future.
Our team evaluated numerous living shoreline products to determine their potential to meet project goals. Products evaluated included A-jax, gabion mattresses, Reefballs, Reefblk, Hesco basket, and OysterBreak.
The Tetra Tech team performed an environmental analysis of each product, including determining its ability to promote oyster growth, thereby increasing the biodiversity in the immediate area. Our team used analytical and numeric modeling to evaluate the shoreline response and performance of the alternatives using parameters including wave attenuation and sediment transport.
The Tetra Tech team’s services for the living shoreline demonstration included:
Recent and historical data collection (topographic, bathymetric, and geotechnical)
Coastal engineering and modeling analysis
Preliminary engineering and design
Regulatory compliance
Final design
Construction administration support, primarily ensuring all environmental requirements in the permits and specifications were followed
The engineering and design of the project met all three project goals, and our team obtained all necessary permits on schedule to complete project construction during the grant funding period.
Using living shoreline products to protect coastlines in Louisiana provides ecosystem services not available through traditional shoreline protection techniques. The products evaluated as part of this project will provide habitat for fish and other aquatic species, in addition to providing erosion control and shoreline stabilization. Project construction was completed in November 2016, and CPRA is conducting monitoring to evaluate the results of the living shoreline products’ performance.
BEST PRACTICES USING REEF BALLS FOR LIVING SHORELINES scheduled for NCER 2018 in August
BEST PRACTICES USING REEF BALLS FOR LIVING SHORELINES
James W. McFarlane, Larry Beggs,
This research involved traveled the coast from Connecticut down the Atalantic Coast, the five states of the Gulf of Mexico, California and islands surveying existing sites, and compiling data. The photos and analysis of projects will provide insight into best practices for successful living shoreline projects. Factors such as water depth, anticipated wave energy, and the type of organisms will dictate the materials used. The Reef Balls have shown better oyster recruitment than other materials. Placing Reef Balls in multiple rows or using taller Reef Balls will increase the wave attenuation. Placement of Reef Balls can provide a large surface area, and the structure of the Reef Ball creates small eddy currents ideal for spat settlement, and for filter feeders. Aesthetics are important particularly when it is in a homeowner’s backyard. When following best practices, you will provide wave attenuation, resulting in increased growth of marsh grasses, as well as submerged aquatic vegetation. Placed properly Reef Ball, provide a great asset to a living shoreline and best of all they stay were there put. Several of the sites were comparative material, test sites. The surveys were looking for the most positive results at the various test sites.
PRESENTER BIO: Larry Beggs, is the Vice President of the Reef Ball foundation. He has been involved with the Reef Ball Foundation since the early 1990’s . As President of Reef Innovations, the international contractor he trained organizations from around the world in the process of constructing and deployment of artificial reefs.
Dedication to 65 lost submarines.
– May 21, 2018
The first undersea memorial to these 65 lost submarines will be dedicated 27 MAY 2018 in Sarasota, nearly 50 years after loss of the USS Scorpion (SSN-589).
Military honors will be given for the 65 lost boats and 4,000+ submariners at the On Eternal Patrol Memorial Reef dedication.
We can think of no more fitting memorial to these heroes who made the ultimate sacrifice under the waves. These submariners will continue to serve and protect our marine environment for the benefit of future generations in the On Eternal Patrol Memorial Reef.
SARASOTA, Fla. (PRWEB) May 21, 2018
Tomorrow marks 50 years since the U.S. nuclear submarine the USS Scorpion (SSN-589) was lost with all hands, 99 officers and crew, on 22 May 1968. She is one of 65 U.S. submarines that have never returned from duty since 1900.
Representing more than 4,000 service members, these 65 boats and crews will be honored this Memorial Day weekend with full military honors at the dedication of the On Eternal Patrol Memorial Reef at 10 a.m. on Sunday, 27 May at Ken Thompson Park, 1700 Ken Thompson Parkway, Sarasota, FL 34236. The public is invited and many military service personnel and veterans are expected to attend.
This first ever undersea memorial will be a collection of 65 Eternal Reef balls with plaques identifying each of the submarines still On Eternal Patrol and one additional Eternal Reef ball representing those crews and boats lost in non-sinking incidents. The 66 Eternal Reefs will be deployed to the ocean floor off the coast of Sarasota this summer to significantly boost the marine environment in which these submariners served and made the ultimate sacrifice.
“We can think of no more fitting memorial to these heroes who made the ultimate sacrifice serving our country beneath the waves and it’s particularly impactful that we will make the dedication nearly 50 years to the day after the loss of the Scorpion,” said George Frankel, Eternal Reefs CEO. “These submariners will continue to serve and protect our marine environment for the benefit of future generations in the On Eternal Patrol Memorial Reef.”
A reef ball is a designed artificial reef, specifically engineered to mimic Mother Nature and quickly assimilate into the ocean environment; new marine growth begins in as little as three months. The reef balls in the On Eternal Patrol Memorial Reef each weigh about 1,300 pounds and stand three feet tall.
Full military honors will be presented on 27 May, including rifle salutes, buglers playing taps and an honor guard bestowing folded flags to representatives for each lost submarine. For many, this will be the first time they’ve been recognized collectively for their contribution and sacrifice.
Dave Taylor, Past Commander Disabled American Veterans Chapter 97, will be the master of ceremonies at the dedication of the On Eternal Patrol Memorial Reef. Rear Admiral Thomas Logan Malone, Ed.D, U.S. Navy (Ret) will be the guest speaker at the event and Colonel Charles Caudill, U.S. Air Force (Ret), will be the officiating chaplain and offer the invocation and prayers. Students from Port Charlotte High School Naval Junior ROTC Unit will present the colors under the supervision of Cadet LCDR John Flaws.
Additionally, middle school cadets from the Sarasota Military Academy Prep School(SMA) will be at the dedication ceremony as “cadet experts,” providing guests background on each of the lost 65 subs. The 72 sixth and seventh graders are supervised by Major Alex Vanston, USMC (Ret) and Captain Terri Davis, both military studies instructors at SMA Prep. Christina Bowman is SMA’s executive director of schools.
A Sarasota-based 501c3 memorial organization, Eternal Reefs, Inc., has planned the ambitious project, in partnership with Reef Innovations and The Reef Ball Foundation. The On Eternal Patrol Memorial Reef has already garnered recognition from more than 25 states, including gubernatorial proclamations from Alabama, Delaware, Indiana, Massachusetts, Michigan, Nebraska, New Hampshire, New Mexico, Ohio and Wisconsin, to name a few.
Submarine enthusiasts, veterans and other military representatives plan to attend from around Florida and across the United States. Brian Lawrence, a Navy veteran from Missouri, is attending in honor of RM2 Kenneth Eugene Nearman, who was aboard the USS TROUT (SS-202) when it went down on 27 February 1944 with all hands, 81 officers and crew. Lawrence shared that his late mother dated Nearman while in and after high school in Missoula, Montana and often spoke of him, and cried, well into her 90s.
Michael Burasco, from Ocala, Fla., plans to attend to honor his brother, Nugent Anthony Burasco, who was one of 79 men lost on the USS Tullibee (SS-284) when she went down on 26 March 1944. James Jordan — who moderates the Facebook submariner group OTS at Crush Depth and served aboard on the USS Parche (SSN-683), the USS Daniel Webster (SSBN- 626), and the USS Sam Rayburn (SSBN-635) – plans to attend and be aboard his own boat to witness the deployment of one representative Eternal Reef on the reef site, weather permitting.
View a video of the On Eternal Patrol Memorial Reef project, including a full listing of all submarines with their date of loss, on YouTube. Find a complete list of the 65 boats On Eternal Patrol and the boats lost in non-sinking events at http://www.OnEternalPatrol.com. Eternal Reefs is accepting outside funding to support the On Eternal Patrol Memorial Reef. Interested parties should call 888-423-7333 or email info@EternalReefs.com.
About Eternal Reefs
The Genesis Reef Project dba Eternal Reefs, Inc. is a Sarasota-based non-profit organization that provides a creative, environmentally-enhancing way to memorialize the cremated remains of a loved one. Eternal Reefs incorporates cremains into a proprietary concrete mixture used to cast artificial reef formations which are then dedicated as permanent memorials which bolster natural coastal reef formations. Eternal Reefs pioneered the concept of reef memorialization and, since 1998, the organization has placed nearly 2,000 Memorial Reefs in 25 locations off the coasts of Florida (North Atlantic, South Atlantic, Gulf Coast and Panhandle), Maryland, New Jersey, North Carolina, South Carolina, Texas and Virginia, substantially increasing the ocean’s diminishing reef systems. Memorial reefs can only go in properly permitted locations by the U.S. Government. Eternal Reefs has strategic partnerships with the Reef Ball Foundation and Reef Innovations. The company secured 501c3 status in January 2017. Learn more at http://www.EternalReefs.com or on the company’s Facebook page.
Artificial Reefs of the Gulf of Mexico: A Review of Gulf State Programs & Key Considerations November 2013
National Wildlife Federation Report from 2013
https://www.nwf.org/~/media/PDFs/Water/Review-of-GoM-Artificial-Reefs-Report.pdf
April 26, 2018
First you place the Reef Balls,
sediment accumulates
then return and plant marsh grass.
Article retrieved from https://www.texassaltwaterfishingmagazine.com/fishing/education/conservation/oyster-lake-shoreline-protection-project-completed
Oyster Lake Shoreline Protection Project Completed
June 2014—smooth cord grass being planted shoreward of reef ball breakwater. Photo by Lisa Laskowski.
Shoreline degradation is an ongoing issue that challenges coastal habitat up and down the Texas coast. Shoreline degradation is the result of many issues, some manmade and others natural. Manmade issues include development, the creation of channels through sensitive marsh for commercial purposes, the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway (ICW), and others. Natural issues include consistent prevailing winds impacting shorelines, hurricanes, winter storms and other effects of Mother Nature.
CCA Texas’s Habitat Today for Fish Tomorrow (HTFT) program has taken part in several projects that were implemented to protect eroding shorelines, re-nourish shorelines and to prevent the breaching of one ecosystem into another. These projects include a joint effort with Ducks Unlimited Texas and others for shoreline protection along the ICW in the JD Murphree Wildlife Management Area and along the ICW just north of the San Bernard River where important fresh water marsh lakes were being threatened by salt water intrusion from the ICW. CCA Texas also worked with Ducks Unlimited and others in Cow Trap Lake (Brazoria County) where marsh shorelines where losing ground to the elements yearly. Other efforts included those with TPWD in Bird Island Cove in West Galveston Bay and Snake Island Cove with the Galveston Bay Foundation (GBF), also in West Galveston Bay.
The latest effort to help protect and restore shoreline degradation was recently completed on the far western end of West Galveston Bay along the Oyster Lake shoreline. This shoreline separates West Galveston Bay from Oyster Lake, a sensitive estuary lake accessible from the ICW and connecting creeks from Bastrop Bay. Over time, it is estimated that over 650 feet of shoreline has been lost on the West Galveston Bay side, and 150 feet on the Oyster Lake side since the 1940s due to prevailing wind, currents and hurricanes. Furthermore, the rate of erosion appeared to be accelerating, as since 1995, up to 175 feet of shoreline was lost on the West Bay side and 55 feet from Oyster Lake side. This project was a multi-phase undertaking that used different types of breakwaters designed specifically for shoreline protection and re-nourishment, and stretches across approximately 5,200 linear feet of critical habitat.
Phase I of the project placed 950 feet of shoreline breakwater along the West Galveston Bay and Oyster Lake shorelines. Another 500 linear feet of reef balls were place along the West Galveston Bay shoreline in a 3-wide configuration, and an additional 450 linear feet along the Oyster Lake shoreline in September 2013. The impacts of the breakwater were seen quickly and between September 2013 and June 2014 in the natural deposition of 1,100 cubic yards of material accumulating behind the breakwaters, thereby triggering the rebuilding process. In June 2014, volunteers planted more than 2,000 smooth cord grass sprigs covering .75 acres in the area between the existing shoreline and the breakwater on the West Galveston Bay side. This cord grass was provided by project partner NRG and, since the original planting, the grass has been spreading and filling in the entire planted area.
Phase II construction began in October 2015. This phase of the project utilized limestone riprap to form the breakwater. This breakwater was built in segmented fashion to allow water to flow freely in and out behind the breakwater and deposit materials that will eventually rebuild the shorelines. Phase II was completed in early January 2016 and 4,786 feet of breakwater that protects 5,150 feet of shoreline are now in place to protect Oyster Lake and the vital ecosystem services that it provides. The final steps in the project are to accomplish baseline data collection for annual monitoring and developing a grass planting strategy for the entire project.
Partnerships are crucial in completing projects such as these and CCA Texas is proud to have been a part of the project through the direct contribution of $200,000. This was important as it established groundwork for GBF to secure another $270,000 in matching dollars. These funds along with other funds from project partners bring together many groups in the common cause to help protect and restore vital coastal habitat along the Texas coast. Project partners included Galveston Bay Foundation, CCA Texas, Ducks Unlimited, NOAA, Texas General Land Office, Galveston Bay Estuary Program, Texas Commission on Environmental Quality, National Fish and Wildlife Foundation’s – Gulf Environmental Benefit Fund, and US Fish and Wildlife Service.