Newsletter: August 9, 2024

Can Reefs be Restored in Delray and Sea Life Returned to Our Shores?

Losing Florida Reefs

Florida’s reefs are dying. At one time the Florida peninsula had the 2nd largest reef in the world.  But no longer. Diving or snorkeling off Delray’s pristine sand beach produces few glimpses of fish or coral.

Coral reefs, the nurseries and safe places for sea life, have been devastated in recent years.  A combination of factors including rising sea temperatures, acidification, ocean dumping, predatory lion fish, etc. are rapidly destroying our underwater wonderland. What were once colorful, waving corals filled with darting fish are now dead hunks of calcium, gray testimonials to what was once a vibrant environment.

But there are possible technologies to reverse this death spiral here in Delray and scalable to miles of recreated reef.  Many organizations are working to address the decline in Florida reefs and Delray is fortunate to host a number of companies and not for profits that have unique solutions that make sense both economically and environmentally.  

Beach Renourishment

Coral reefs are important for many reasons. They create economic value for fishing and tourism such as John Prince Park’s Reef Trail. And the restored reefs may also eliminate the need for existing beach renourishment programs.  Currently Delray and other beach cities depend on Federal and State governments to fund the expensive process of digging sand out of the sea and dumping it on land to create or recreate beaches. The renourishment process has to be repeated every few years as the newly improved beach simply washes out to sea due to storm waves.

Fortunately Federal and State governments pay 100% of the cost of beach renourishment. This generosity extended to beach towns is likely to change in the near future and localities will be stuck with the tab.  But more importantly beach replenishment is a destructive process that digs 80 foot deep trenches in the ocean floor, breaks up coral reefs, creates dead zones, and causes water turbidity.

New Technology to the Rescue

Hydraulic engineers believe that reef restoration could prevent erosion of beach sand by breaking the force of large waves that drag sand back into the sea. Even if the research proves the sandy beaches are not maintained by man-made reefs, the City would still benefit from the restoration and its creation of a healthy near shore environment.

Many scientific, governmental and educational organizations are examining potential solutions to what has become a world-wide problem.  Significant sums of money are available through foundations and government grants.  The financial returns for the companies or multi disciplined collaborations who come up with a successful solution could be substantial.  Consequently the intellectual property behind a successful reef restoration technologies is closely guarded secret. Delray could be a leader in reef restoration because several local organizations have been conducting research for nearly a decade. Reef restoration would need to incorporate several features including low cost of construction, extensibility to expand the new reef, ease of installation, proven success in withstanding storms and wave force, corals that thrive in the emerging sea conditions, and acceleration of coral repopulation. Many approaches in the past were not science based and consisted of sinking an old ship offshore or tossing old tires into the ocean only to have to remove them at a later date. The research based approach taken by Delray organizations has a higher probability of success.

Where Do We Go From Here?

A successful venture would need to conduct wave tank experimentation and fluid dynamics engineering studies.  Stress testing of designs and models need to be undertaken to determine the most storm worthy approach. Advanced monitoring techniques would be required to determine the impact of weather related events on the man-made reefs.

Delray and nearby communities have the skillsets to advance and lead reef restoration technology however there are two obstacles to progress. Money isn’t the problem. Funding is plentiful.  The challenge, and its solvable, is (1) to coordinate the many organizations federal, state, county, and local to agree on a strategy and (2) the permits from regulatory agencies necessary to install prototypes offshore.  Quite often the most time consuming and expensive activity to developing reef restoration is the permitting process. But the returns for a reef restoration venture could be enormous and Delray could add to its reputation as best small City. What if Delray became the “Silicon Valley” of reef restoration?  Not only would a reef be restored, sea life returned, and beach sand kept in place, but new businesses could emerge, local schools could specialize in ocean studies, students would have science projects which are meaningful and challenging, jobs would be created, and we could have our pristine beach without the harmful side effects.

Let us know what you think of this article and whether you might be interested in participating.