Tom James

Experiments on FGCUs Kimberly’s Reef range from looking for red tide, gauging the temperature and chemical composition of the water, measuring aspects of the currents in the Gulf of Mexico, and even counting the many fish attracted to the artificial structures. Some of this research is often done by boat. For many scientists, though, the best way to study the reef is below the surface.

In the Gulf of Mexico, seven and a half miles due west of Bonita Beach and 30 feet below the surface grows an artificial reef and living classroom laboratory created by The Water School at Florida Gulf Coast University. This Dispatch from Kimberly’s Reef focuses on the fish who live in this new ecosystem and the scientists who are counting them.

Ever since since the FGCU Water School began deploying their underwater classroom and laboratory, scientific research has been underway at Kimberly’s Reef. Professors and students are studying the entire water column surrounding the villages. Already changes are being made by wildlife inhabiting the reef, starting at the bottom or benthic zone.

In the Gulf of Mexico, seven and a half miles due west of Bonita Beach and 30 feet below the surface grows an artificial reef complex created by The Water School at Florida Gulf Coast University. This is the latest dispatch from Kimberly’s Reef. Six months after its deployment, the scientific studies have begun.

In the Gulf of Mexico, seven and a half miles due west of Bonita Beach and thirty feet below the surface, grows an artificial reef complex created by The Water School at Florida Gulf Coast University. WGCU is producing a documentary about the reef, and providing monthly updates. The latest Dispatch from Kimberly’s Reef features special artwork for the cement culverts created by FGCU's Bower School of Music and the Arts.

The Water School at FGCU recently deployed a new artificial reef complex eight miles off shore from the county line between Collier and Lee. While WGCU is producing a documentary about the reef and the scientific research it hopes to study, we will keep folks informed of the progress of the reef (past and present) with Dispatches from Kimberly’s Reef. Here is the third dispatch which tells how the FGCU reef team hired a marine construction company to make the reef a reality for the fall of 2022.

This spring, The Water School at FGCU deployed a new artificial reef complex eight miles off shore from the county line between Collier and Lee. While WGCU is producing a documentary about the reef and the scientific research it hopes to study, we will keep our friends informed of the progress of the reef and the documentary with Dispatches from Kimberly’s Reef. Here is the second dispatch which tells the story of the creation of the reef complex from cement culverts donated by Oldcastle Infrastructure in Cape Coral.

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. WGCU is producing a documentary about the reef and the planned scientific research around it. In the meantime, WGCU’s Pam James will keep folks informed of progress on the reef and the documentary with the occasional "Dispatch from Kimberly’s Reef." Here is the first.

Weather dictates much of what we are able to do outside in Florida. Storm events, like Hurricane Ian, obviously cause major disruptions. But even an off-shore breeze can prevent a job on the water from being done. That was the next hurdle when it came to deploying FGCU’s newest artificial reef in the Gulf of Mexico.

Bailey Matthews National Shell Museum on Sanibel reopened to the public on February 1st after Hurricane Ian shut the island down for months. Now, alongside their popular shell displays, is another unique and interactive exhibit.