Marine Life & Conservation
ARTIFICIAL REEFS – Do we need them?
Reefs around the world have taken a terrible toll from all our marine exploits. Over fishing, pollution, coastal development, diver damage, ships’ anchors….. the list goes on. And now on top of all this, the reefs are further dying through climate change and acidification. Warm water coral reefs are the most affected but many of the same pressures are felt on temperate reefs too.
World wide, coral reefs are home to approximately 25 percent of the animals and plants that live in the ocean. They protect vulnerable coastlines from raging seas; they are nursery grounds for many species as well as permanent homes for countless fish and invertebrates. More than 500 million people depend on reefs for their primary source of protein. They provide us divers with magnificent backdrops to our underwater adventures. The tourist trade over many parts of the world depend heavily on healthy and vibrant coral reefs for their visitors to enjoy. And yet we systematically crush them back to white lifeless limestone.
As the oceans’ ecosystems fall into serious decline, so we look at ways of addressing the balance. Artificial reefs are not new. Countries around the world have been making them in one form or another for generations. But here in the UK, as is too often the case, we are sadly lagging behind in our efforts to make these new potential reefs work – not only for us, but for the marine environment in general.
There is a group people trying to make some changes, and this is their story so far.
Weymouth & Portland Wreck to Reef Project (http://www.wrecktoreef.co.uk)
Weymouth and Portland Wreck to Reef is the non-profit community group that was originally set up to obtain permissions to source and to sink a single ship as an artificial reef at a location to the east of Weymouth and Portland.
Because of the difficulty in obtaining those permissions it soon became apparent that the way forward was to obtain permissions for a square kilometre of sea bed where we could sink not just one, but two ex-naval warships. Along with other inert reef material creating a reef sanctuary that it is hoped would be the first of many in the UK.
As of today hundreds of artificial reefs have been created throughout the world, ranging from small concrete structures in Kerala India http://www.indiaenvironmentportal.org.in/node/10479 to huge aircraft carriers http://artificial-reefs.blogspot.com/2006/05/navy-ex-aircraft-carrier-uss-oriskany.htm all without exception having a positive effect on the marine environment and local business in general, both short and long term.
In 1997 it was Tina Thomas of Portland Oceaneering that first started to put any real effort into the possibilities of the Weymouth and Portland area having its very own Wreck to Reef. It has to be said, it was very much a one woman crusade for several years. After repeatedly hitting a brick wall, Tina had to make the choice between her own business and the reef project.
In more recent years, Lisa Wallace of Silent Planet continued to drive the idea forward, and spent a couple of years and a lot of her resources on producing evidence that actually showed for the first time just how important the diving industry as a whole was to the Weymouth and Portland area. Unfortunately, but not surprisingly, Lisa was faced with the same dilemma Tina had faced years before.
As with most of us reading this, life is busy and with those of us with businesses, we all know just how precious and valuable free time is. Although, at the time we all wished Tina and Lisa well, they were very much left to get on with it.
It must be acknowledged that without Tina Thomas and Lisa Wallace , we would still be tying up our running shoes, but instead we, our industry and our community has the baton firmly in our grip and can move forward with this awesome project.
Sean Webb and Marcus Darler of O’Three Ltd, and Dale and Ron Spree of Fathom and Blues are two of those companies that gave lots of verbal support to Weymouth and Portland’s very own artificial reef concept, but were both busy in keeping their own businesses on track. Although Fathom and Blues and O’Three continue to do well, it was plain to see just how diving in general was on the decline in our area.
Learning from the past (and that is not a criticism) O’Three and Fathom and Blues both realised early on that things would soon fall flat if firstly, they didn’t get somebody independent to put some consistent time into it (and be prepared to pay for that time), and secondly, to get as much support as they could not just within our industry, but further afield.
It was at this stage Neville Copperthwaite’s name was put forward as a possible project co-ordinator. There are people who talk and people who do, and Neville is well and truly one of the latter. If anyone can get this project further along, then it’s Neville Copperthwaite. In gathering all of the existing data and the new information he has collected and his ability to find the right doors to knock on and then open, at such an early stage in his involvement, is amazing.
Aims & Goals
Overview
The general national decline within the diving industry has been exacerbated in Weymouth and Portland by three things: the sinking of HMS Scylla in Plymouth; the building of an accessible launching facility in West-Bay at Bridport; and a ban on diving the HMS Hood in Portland Harbour (for safety reasons).
Drawing on the experiences and the resulting benefits of previous man-made artificial reefs, notably in Plymouth but also around the world, it is believed that this project will help redress the economic down-turn within our diving industry.
Worldwide
Man-made artificial reefs are not a new thing by any means. The Japanese have been building them for over four hundred years to improve their fish stocks (they’re determined they won’t run out of sushi). Canada, America and Australia have been sinking ships as diver and angling attractions for up to thirty years or more. Brazil is currently manufacturing concrete reef balls which have pioneered reef restoration throughout the world. In India, villagers make triangular concrete structures utilising the very sand from their beaches, then they sink them to redress the damage done by commercial trawling.
The list goes on.
In fact, only a few miles from where we are today, a reef is being constructed by a New Zealand company to facilitate wave formation for surfers. This is happening now, off Bournemouth beach in Dorset, UK.
Even closer to us in Poole Bay, Dr Ken Collins of Southampton University has been monitoring an artificial reef that he had constructed back in the eighties, and if any of you had been to one of his fascinating lectures on this subject, you would have seen the resounding success of the increase in marine life in what was previously a relatively barren area. The upshot is that artificial reefs work for whatever is asked of them.
There has been much academic research done on this subject worldwide, including Southampton University and all this is well documented. By and large, this research shows that provided the obstacles used for artificial reefs are environmentally clean, and are heavy enough not to migrate from where they are placed, then the biodiversity of that area will increase dramatically.
Ethos
But we don’t want to profess to you that we are doing this solely for the environment. That would be wrong, and we are not. Economics is the driving force behind this. The diving industry in Weymouth and Portland is a shadow of its former self. For instance, in 2003 there were twenty four dive charter boats operating out of the area… and now there are less than half that number.
However, having said that, marine life will still flourish on an artificial reef, no matter what the politics.
And talking of politics, we are under no elusions as to how difficult it will be to secure all the necessary permissions. There will be the Crown Estates to deal with, the MCA, Southern Sea Fisheries, English Nature and a host of other organisations. This fragmentation tempts us to suggest on a broader note that artificial reefs could be used as an integrated management tool within the European Coastal Zone or at least within the C-scope project. This would have the effect of streamlining and encouraging the whole business – and all this before persuading the MOD to part with a ship, let alone finding funding for the project – but it’s been done before, and it can be done again.
Support
We have already received practical support and enthusiasm from Weymouth and Portland Borough Council.
Gary Fooks, the 2012 Olympic Legacy Director, is including the project as part of his plans so that a world class dive venue can run alongside a world class sailing venue. The Portland Partnership and Portland Gas Ltd are working with us and will allow us to install a viewing system between the proposed reef and an interpretation centre on Portland and elsewhere. Southampton University, a world leader in artificial reef research, will become involved in our environmental impact studies.
Final Thought
Just a thought to leave you with – Japan has artificial reefs covering some twelve percent of its coast. It sees its artificial reef program so economically important that its annual reef budget is equal to our annual military budget.
E-Petition http://www.wrecktoreef.co.uk/e-petition
Through the three year process of obtaining permissions to sink two destroyers and create artificial reefs, Weymouth and Portland Wreck to Reef have by coincidence created a new way to manage an area of sea-bed by the people for the people.
It has been suggested that Weymouth and Portland Wreck to Reef now has a blueprint that should be adopted across the whole of the United Kingdom.
The jewel in the crown of these reef sanctuaries is of course the once jewels of our naval history, our warships.
Our ex-naval ships could be cleaned and made ready responsibly here in the UK and would help create much needed habitats for our ailing marine environments and bring decades of revenue to our coastal communities.
The UK is sadly out of step with the rest of the world with regards to giving ships as ‘deeds of gifts’ to any organisation. Portugal and Thailand sunk four ships in 2012, with Portugal planning to sink another two warships this year.
It is hoped by signing this petition you will help Wreck to Reef change the British Governments view and, by deed of gift, give us at least one vessel.
At Wakatobi Dive Resort, guests are always thanked for coming to enjoy this special place, as it is their presence that creates the magic making ongoing reef conservation efforts a reality. “The more you know, the more you notice,” says in-house marine biologist Julia Mellers. “And what better place to learn about reef biodiversity and custodianship than in Wakatobi.”
“My main project for the first year is to establish a way of monitoring the health of Wakatobi’s reef ecosystem,” Julia says. “This will allow us to provide hard scientific proof that Wakatobi’s conservation model measurably benefits reef health. Holding a finger to the pulse of the reef will also assist management decisions, such as identifying priority areas for increased protection.”
Modern methods for reef management
The Wakatobi Reef Health Assessment program utilizes a customized set of modern imaging and data analysis techniques that provide a comprehensive indication of the state of a reef ecosystem. “We use the latest ecological theory, technology, and artificial intelligence to develop a novel package to efficiently and robustly measure reef health,” Julia says. “This will enable us to monitor how Wakatobi’s reefs are faring throughout the protected area without significantly diverting resources from protecting the reefs.”
The process begins in the water, capturing the reef’s sights, sounds, and landscape. Above water, Julia is developing and implementing analysis methods and training machine learning models to extract measures of reef health from captured data. When not on the island, she will research new approaches and ideas for coral reef assessment and help spread the word about Wakatobi’s scientific initiative.
“It’s an absolute privilege to work within a system that benefits both the reefs and the local people,” says Julia. “It also gives us a unique opportunity to assess and document reef health and dynamics within an ecosystem that is actually getting healthier. In stark contrast to declines in coral health recorded elsewhere, our scientific data is already beginning to demonstrate Wakatobi’s astonishing biodiversity – which is evident to anyone who ventures underwater at the resort.”
The program focuses on three indicators of reef health: the diversity of the reef community, which measures the variety and abundance of living organisms colonizing the reef surface; structural complexity, describing the degree to which the reefs incorporate elaborate details; and reef soundscapes, recording the noise a reef’s inhabitants make, including the snapping of shrimp and the feeding sounds of fish. By measuring these elements, it is possible to estimate how much life the habitat supports.
“Luckily, we don’t have to work all that out manually,” Julia says. Artificial intelligence plays a vital role. “I train machine learning models to identify signals of reef functioning that would otherwise be undetectable. For example, a model can be trained to recognize the sounds that characterize a healthy reef. This allows us to monitor the reefs at a scale, and with a thoroughness that would otherwise be inconceivable.”
Julia and the dive team have also started an eDNA survey of the reefs. ”This involves taking seawater samples near the reef at different depths and filtering them to trap environmental DNA (eDNA) that organisms shed into the water,” Julia explains. “The samples are now in a lab, where the DNA is labeled using probes and sequenced to identify which species are around. Using this technique, we should be able to detect hundreds of species from just a single litre of seawater. It’s a very cool process!”
A Wakatobi welcome
Julia says the Wakatobi team has been exceptionally supportive and welcoming. “They are able to maintain a totally laid-back atmosphere while coordinating an exceptionally professional operation.” She adds that Wakatobi feels remote in the best ways, with pristine reefs, peace, and quiet, while also being an extremely comfortable and well-connected place to work.
“Working within a system that works for the reefs because it works for the people is an absolute privilege,” she says. “It also gives us a unique opportunity to unpick reef health and dynamics within an ecosystem that is actually getting healthier. In stark contrast to declines recorded elsewhere, our scientific data is already beginning to demonstrate the astonishing biodiversity evident to anyone who ventures underwater at Wakatobi.”
The Wakatobi team has also proven to be an invaluable source of knowledge about the local ecosystem,” Julia says. “Wakatobi makes the perfect scientific laboratory. Being able to go from library to laptop to reef, all in the space of a hundred meters, is the perfect recipe for generating new ideas and trying them out. It is so exciting to work with open-minded innovators keen to try novel approaches and look at things from different angles.”
“Having such a dynamic team has meant that we’ve made progress quickly,” Julia says. “So far, we have a highly accurate machine learning model that classifies the reef community, a method to analyze the sounds that reef critters make, and a fully automatic way of measuring fish abundance. We are also in a position to add to this repertoire, trialing different techniques to quantify the complex 3D structure that corals make. We have added DNA analysis to the arsenal, which enables us to detect biodiversity invisible to the naked eye.”
From frogs to frogfish
Julia acquired her love of nature and biology from her parents, whom she describes as eco-friendly before the concept became trendy. “Camping, compost heaps, and Attenborough documentaries were features of a nature-centric English childhood. I raised pond-dwelling critters, peered down microscopes, and became transfixed by cephalopods.” Biology was an inevitable choice, she says, and the sea came into her life at a young age. “Having long been a sailor, with a family of sailors, I am at home at sea,” she says. “I took my first sip of compressed air at the bottom of a swimming pool in London and have spent as much time as possible eye-to-eye with octopuses since.”
After completing an undergraduate degree in biology at Oxford University, Julia shifted her Master’s focus to marine biology. It was a move she describes as swapping frogs for frogfish. “I went into marine biology because I see marine biological research as a powerful tool to connect people with the planet,” she says. “Of course, nature should be worth more to us preserved than destroyed – but if you can’t put a price on it, no one pays. Wakatobi has created an economic engine that financially incentivizes reef custodianship. This leads to an ideal scientific setting – demonstrably vibrant reefs linked to genuine socio-economic fairness.“
Julia’s Master’s project was done in collaboration with the Australian Institute of Marine Science and investigated mysterious bare rings of sand that surround reef patches within algal meadows. “We think these ‘reef halos’ form because foraging fish will only venture a short way from the shelter of a coral patch if they are under threat from patrolling sharks,” she says. “Since you can spot these halos from satellite images, they could be a neat way of keeping an eye on shark populations from space… and a possible addition to Wakatobi’s monitoring program”!
As the Reef Health Assessment program progresses, Julia will create new learning and participation opportunities for guests to enhance the depth and enjoyment of their Wakatobi experience. Wakatobi Dive Resort will also continue to provide updates and insights on the important work Julia and the rest of the Wakatobi team are doing to understand and protect some of the world’s most pristine and spectacular coral reefs.
Many thanks go to Wakatobi’s guests, whose continued enjoyment of the marine preserve helps keep ongoing reef protection efforts a reality!
Contact the team at office@wakatobi.com or enquire >here.
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View Wakatobi videos on the YouTube Channel.
Coral Triangle Cameos. Biodiversity and the small majority by Alan J Powderham
This colourful coffee table style book wonderfully shows off the incredible and vibrant marine life of an area, roughly triangular, that spans the waters of Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Papua New Guinea, the Solomon Islands, and Timor-Leste. The biodiversity here is incredibly rich. And this book covers the wonders that those lucky enough to dive here can experience.
It is worked into chapters that cover the types of marine life found here from coral to worms and everything in-between. The chapter on corals features lovely wide angle scenes, as well as close up details. And all the following chapters contain stunning images and interesting descriptions of both common and rare animals that have divers flocking to this region to discover. I think the cephalopods are my favourite. But this book certainly offers plenty of other options to marvel at.
This is a book to dip in and out of. Enjoy the beautiful images within (of which there are many). Peruse the descriptions of your personal favourite species and learn about new behaviours and interactions that are part of every day life on these abundant reefs. It is the type of book that will keep you coming back over and over again. And will always bring a smile to your face as you explore this incredible underwater world and the marine life that calls it home.
What the Publisher Says:
Dive into the Hidden Wonders of the Coral Triangle, a kaleidoscope of marine life which boasts the greatest biodiversity in the oceans. While most focus on the giants of the deep, Coral Triangle Cameos celebrates the “small majority” — the tiny but vital creatures that power this underwater paradise.
Renowned underwater photographer Alan Powderham brings the unseen to life with stunning visuals and he divulges the fascinating science behind these diminutive wonders in an accessible, relatable way.
About the Author:
Alan J Powderham is a seasoned underwater photographer with over 40 years of experience capturing the magic of the ocean depths. His previous books include At the Heart of the Coral Triangle (2021).
Book Details
Publisher: Dived Up Publications
Hardcover
Price: £45
ISBN: 978-1-909455-57-3
Published: 17th September, 2024
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