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New 7-mile-long underwater sculpture park invites snorkelers to save coral reefs

With construction starting this year, the Great Florida Reef will soon feature a 7-mile public art installation: The Reefline.

Both a sculpture park and a snorkeling trail, the development will also serve as an artificial reef to offer shelter to fish, which will, in turn, help corals thrive.



The concept is good. Humans can add habitat for corals with viable results.


A MOCKUP OF THE MIAMI REEF STAR, WHERE CORAL WILL GROW FROM UNIQUE CORAL LOK TECHNOLOGY. PHOTO COURTESY OF REEFLINE

The star shapes with their legs and many holes look like a pretty good balance between functionality and art. The holes are really important in a coral reef because they increase surface area for organisms and allow fish to dodge and hide in them. It's called "void space."


A MOCKUP OF "CONCRETE CORAL." PHOTO COURTESY OF REEFLINE

Unless those car sculptures are hollow with access holes, they are greatly inferior to the stars.


The modules are being 3D printed using a material called CarbonXinc and will also contain Coral Lok. CarbonXinc is an eco-friendly concrete that pulls carbon out of the atmosphere, turning the Reef Star into a carbon sink, too.

Oh now that's clever. I do recommend harvesting atmospheric carbon as a building material.


A MOCKUP OF A PHASE II FEATURE: "BARRIER MODULES & SUPER STRUCTURE." PHOTO COURTESY OF REEFLINE

Another clever mixture of functionality and art.


Other future phases will include a sculpture modeled after the heart of a blue whale, as well as a series of pieces that will come to form a “breakwater” that helps prevent coastal erosion.

The breakwater is a particularly good idea, and the heart shape comes with suitable holes.


I am a fan of coral reef restoration, and I am especially interested in the geometry of replacement reef forms along with materials used to create them. People use everything from rebar to concrete to proprietary blends, sometimes handmade, other times molded or 3D printed.

Artificial Reefs -- EcoShape

CORAL REEF RESTORATION: A guide to coral restoration methods


Want to help? Reefscapers will let you sponsor a coral frame in the Maldives.
 

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