
OCEAN CITY — Ocean City’s growing artificial reef system continues to gain momentum with new material dropped offshore practically every week including another significant contribution last weekend by a local young man as part of his Eagle Scout project.
The Ocean City Reef Foundation is in the midst of one of its most prolific times in recent memory with tons of material including thousands of concrete “oyster castle” reef blocks, concrete pipes and other materials filling out relatively new reef sites just off the coast. For roughly the last 17 years, the Reef Foundation has been steadily expanding the artificial reef system off the coast with eight sites ranging from as close to shore as one mile to as far out as 20 miles.
The latest contribution came in the form of 144 oyster castle reef blocks and 36, eight-foot concrete planks as part of local resident Patrick Miller’s Eagle Scout project. Miller and his fellow scouts loaded the oyster castles and concrete planks onto Captain Monty Hawkins’ “Morning Star,” which delivered them to the designated reef areas off the coast.
“This young man aims to build a reef by summer and he’s on a precise course to do just that,” said Hawkins. “His step-father, Captain Tony Battista, is making sure of it. Tony was a driving force in the early years of the foundation and was instrumental in the build-out of Russell’s Reef and purchasing our small barge, which has made nearly 100 deployments.”
For the last couple of years, much of the Reef Foundation’s efforts have focused on a handful of new reef sites fairly close to shore. The Jimmy Jackson Memorial Reef, about 10 miles off the coast, has been in the making for about three years. Another relatively new site is the Ake Reef about five miles southeast of the Inlet named for the late Doug Ake who passed away last year.
The Ake Reef began with the sinking of a retired 50-foot Baltimore water taxi a little over a year ago and has been the recipient of tons of material since. The newest site, Lindsey Power’s Isle of Wight Reef, was started late last year. The Isle of Wight Reef began with four stainless steel rail cars and a barge-load of concrete pipes and has also been the recipient of hundreds or oyster castle reef blocks since along with other material.
By early February, the Reef Foundation had dropped over 8,400 oyster castle reef blocks including 2,452 at Jimmy Jackson’s Reef, 1,588 at Ake’s Reef and another 300-plus at Lindsey Power’s Isle of Wight Reef. With Miller’s Eagle Scout contribution last weekend, that number has now swelled to around 8,700 with more in the works.
“The Reef Foundation expects these reef units to be grown over by mussels by June and well colonized by corals in about 15 years,” said Hawkins.
Hawkins said individual projects like Miller’s Eagle Scout project coupled with several other larger scale projects is continuing the foundation’s momentum well into this year. Another significant funding contribution came from the raffle of a Turner Sculptures table and other unique pieces during the Ocean City Boat Show last month.
“Reef building is looking great for 2014,” he said. “We received an awesome donation from the Gudelsky Family Foundation, then the Maryland Artificial Reef Committee voted to give the coast 25 percent of a $200,000 Maryland bond bill. Personal donations and sponsorships have also been coming in steadily.”
Hawkins said the foundation is currently in the process of acquiring another large contribution and hinted at a significant project sometime this year although he couldn’t divulge many of the details.
“It’s time we build a big reef at the Bass Grounds, maybe a mile northeast of Jimmy Jackson’s Reef and about eight miles east of the Inlet,” he said. “I’m pricing delivery of a large barge-load of pre-cast concrete units or boulders, 1,400 tons worth. That, in addition to our regular barge runs and daily block drops, plus Patrick’s Eagle Scout project ought to make a fine year’s work.”
During the last 16 years-plus, the Ocean City Reef Foundation has submerged tons of material from old boats to retired military equipment and discarded construction materials to create a vast artificial reef network off the coast of the resort. The artificial reefs have enhanced habitat for fish and other sea creatures, which has, in turn, improved offshore fishing for recreational anglers and created new opportunities for diving enthusiasts. The hope is that a fully encrusted and developed artificial reef system will someday be teeming with many species that have dropped off or disappeared altogether off the coast.