A unique classroom is literally growing beneath the waves off the coast of Florida. In the Gulf of Mexico, seven and a half miles due west of Bonita Beach and 30 feet below the surface grows Kimberly's reef, an artificial reef complex created by The Water School at Florida Gulf Coast University.
Dr. Mike Parsons, Professor of Marine Science at the Water School at FGCU, has been spearheading this project.
“The purpose of Kimberly's Reef is to both conduct research and to provide an underwater classroom, if you will, not only to FGCU students, but to the general public at large, said Parson. "It'll also be a dive venue for our local dive shops, tourists, ecotourism, and things like that as well, and fishing guides who want to catch fish out there. So, there will be revenue generating opportunities beyond the science and the research.”
The coastal waters of Southwest Florida are a natural resource that supports recreational and commercial fisheries, along with travel and tourism. In fact, for Lee County alone, tourism is a 4 billion dollar per year industry and is responsible for one in five jobs, this according to the Lee County Visitor and Convention Bureau. Parsons says that artificial reefs play a role in attracting fish which attract tourists.
"Artificial reefs are considered to be a good environmental augmentation, if you will. When you look at our coastal waters, it's pretty much all flat sand. You will have ledges and maybe some limestone that is exposed when the sand moves around," he said." There's not much for fish to associate with. They like structure. So, when we add structures out there, that creates habitat for fish."
Unlike most recreational artificial reefs, Kimberly’s Reef has also been deployed for science. The intention, among others, is to study the effects from various manmade and natural issues that can plague our coastal waters: from potential oil spills like the Deepwater Horizon in 2010 to polluted discharges from the Caloosahatchee River, from devastating wind and wave action from hurricanes to toxic blooms of red tide and cyanobacteria or blue green algae. So, for Parsons and The Water School, the placement and design of the reef complex has been very intentional.
"It's an 11-acre plot, so it's a pretty decent sized plot, especially when you're underwater. That's that's quite a big area. And it's basically a series of these big box culverts that are about ten feet by five feet by seven feet, and they each weigh about 20,000 pounds," he said.
Six units of three cement culverts make up the reef. The units, or villages, are placed 150 feet apart facing different directions for experimentation.
"The way we're laying out Kimberly's reef will allow us to examine various physical processes that could be the effects of wave action, that could be your longshore currents that are moving north and south, the tidal currents moving east and west," said Parsons. "And how do these structures either impede or affect the flow in the waves? How do they affect the way sediment moves? How do they affect organisms settling?"
The bottom line for many is the wildlife.
"We'll also be seeing what kind of benthic or bottom dwelling organisms will settle on the reef. Will we get sponges? When will sponges come? Different coral species, different seaweeds, different bivalves and oysters," he said. "And so kind of seeing that process on who gets there first, how long do they stay, who else moves in? And then you start getting competition. You know, who's going to be a bully and crowd out other species? Who's going to grow fastest and take over more areas? How is that related to wave action? How is that related to the Caloosahatchee River flows? How is that related to change of seasons? So, it’ll be a lot of interesting questions and observations we can make on that succession process."
Eric Rieseberg is a major donor to the reef project , and chair of the Vester Field Station Community Advisory Board. He has a very personal reason to see the reef come to life.
"Kimberly is my deceased daughter. She died many years ago, but it seems like yesterday. She died on her fourth birthday. She had been ill with a brain cancer," said Rieseberg. "And one of the things that I don't think is oftentimes spoken about when one loses a child is that not only do you lose the child, but you lose all of the hopes, the dreams, the expectations, all the things that you hope and wish and expect that your child had to have as they go through their life."
The hopes and dreams for Kimberly have now been poured into the reef named after her. "I felt that we should be able to provide something of purity, something that would continue to serve humanity and social improvement, something that was happy in spirit and something that everyone can share."
Though it has been created by The Water School at FGCU, Parsons says the reef will be open for research in collaboration with regional, national and international organizations like the Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission. The Bonefish and Tarpon Trust, and the National Hurricane Center, to name only a few.
"We hope it'll open a lot of doors up, not only to Water School faculty and students, but students throughout the college and throughout the region," said Parsons. "We're really looking forward to developing new projects, seeing what ideas other people have and really trying to make this all work."
Eric Riesberg couldn’t agree more.
"I want to see people come from all parts of the world and the United States and come to FGCU with their heart pounding. Can't wait to get to the water school on a Wednesday. Can't wait to get to Vester on a Thursday and get out on the boats on the reef on a Friday and, you know, get their feet wet, literally and figuratively. And at the same time doing good things for humanity and cleaning our environment. Because I can't think of anybody who isn't really interested in having a cleaner environment. And I think that this will help do that."
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