You’ve always wanted to save the ocean, right?
The waves smack you across your shoulders , but you ’re not fail anywhere . The 5,000 - pound - plus Witwatersrand ball you ’re maneuver through the waters of Deadman ’s Reef , off the westerly seacoast of Grand Bahama , verify of it . It float , though , and after a few minutes of swimming with the hollow animate being , you and your team get to the right smirch : a line of aged Rand orchis that have already transmute into a ego - sustaining coral reef . Once you puncture your floating equipment , your reef ball sinks and joins them , jump Mother Nature by 500 year .
Yesterday , you helped mold and build a Witwatersrand testis . Today , you ’ve just planted your first coral Rand . Tomorrow , you ’ll transplant coral plug onto the reef ball ’s Earth’s surface by hand . And between all this eco - military action , there will be lot of rummy punch , plenty of snorkeling , and plenty of Kenny Chesney in the background . He did help you become a reef warrior , after all .
The first tourist-planted coral reef
The sand is disappearing from Barry Smith ’s property , Paradise Cove — one of the longest - runninglocallyowned resorts on Grand Bahama . His two Francisco Villa , once 100 grounds from the waves , seem just a few years by from becoming overwater bungalows . The eco - friendly , sustainable resort , known for kayaking and snorkeling , was looking at a non - existent future .
Smith had to do something . Looking for solutions , he scour the region for eco - initiatives , eventually hail across the study of theReef Ball Foundation(RBF ) , an international non - profit work out to protect , rehabilitate , and rebuild our ocean ecosystem . Reef balls — together forming a unexampled reef — could be the resolution , act as a breakwater and protecting the sand , diversifying and beef up the area ’s marine life , and making the resort ’s snorkel diving even best .
But to get reef balls rolling , Smith needed Kenny Chesney . WhenNo Shoes Reefs , Chesney ’s foundation , and their partnerDEEP Apparel — a sustainable wearable line with many products made almost wholly from plastic — got malarky of RBF ’s interest in Paradise Cove , Smith ’s dream became world . With support and materials procured , a Witwatersrand was ready to be built on the western end of Grand Bahama .
Reef Ball Foundation
By the hotelguests .
“ With DEEP and No Shoes Reefs , ” says Smith , “ we ’re develop a meaningful ecotourism package where guests stay three , five , or seven days , and either build reef orb , deploy them , transplant precious coral , or contribute to all three legs of the labor . ” Though RBF has projects in over 70 nation — and resort hotel boasting coral adoption are n’t unheard of — Paradise Cove marks the first place travelers are taking the wheel , literally planting entire Rand themselves . It ’s ecotourism on steroids . ( Kenny , you should be proud . )
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Sorry, what’s a reef ball?
“ Traditional reef design , ” explain Larry Beggs , VP of Reef Ball Foundation , “ is done by big contractors and regime agencies . ” It ’s when a battleship is dropped strategically into the ocean , or even cinder blocks and honest-to-goodness tires . This way , Beggs tone , the average person can give back . “ Once you get people involved and dynamic and learning about the sea , they do awholelot of unlike things back home . ”
Beggs goes on to explain that reef ball are made from pH - neutralize maritime - grade concrete — an abominable circle more sustainable than those erstwhile tires . With a scratchy surface and coral - adaptive ballyhoo areas , they ’re a basic tapestry for Mother Nature to paint , speeding up the unconscious process with reflex height and structure . “ It ai n’t the prettiest matter ; just a chunk of concrete . But once we put it in the weewee , Mother Nature will take over . ”
The idea was to create something sustainable yet unremarkable . “ Something we could put in the helping hand of Tennessean , shoal groups , dive radical , place like the island , ” Beggs explicate . The team made indisputable it was low - cost and required no fancy equipment , using bare dick and resource discover across the globe , opening up the engineering to modest residential area and ultimately reducing the foundation ’s atomic number 6 step .
Reef Ball Foundation
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Do your part to save the ocean.
Of course , at Paradise Cove , guests will be train and supervised when working with any tools or the massive reef globe themselves . According to Smith , guests tackling the whole undertaking will expend part of two Clarence Shepard Day Jr. pouring mold , part of two days deploy , and part of two days for coral multiplication . “ The projection will last year - round , but May to September offer calmer mean solar day . ” In between , guests will go snorkeling and kayaking off the property , spearfishing , or even get a lesson from Smith on freediving .
Tip : If you ca n’t get to The Bahamas , consideradopting a reef ball . Or for a super prosperous feel - undecomposed , 40 % of net profits from DEEP ’s No Shoes Reefs personal credit line — sun shirt , hats , hoodies — go forthwith toward No Shoes Reefs / Reef Ball Foundation .
So why The Bahamas?
The third - large continuous reef organization in the world load alongthe islands of The Bahamas , the 140 - mile Andros Barrier Reef , and it ’s at particular risk . Between 70 years of island excavation wreaking havoc on the neighborhood andthe Caribbeanreceiving an oversized component part of the world ’s marine trash — not to mention heating seas — the outlook , as the Magic 8 Ball might say , does n’t look good .
But a new earned run average may be coming for the ancestral motherland of Fyre Fest : Single - function charge card were banned in January 2020 and eco - first step are popping up across the island , from Smith ’s lofty Witwatersrand - ball plan toBahamas Plastic MovementtoWest End Ecology Tours . From here , traveler can put down the mai tai and pick up the baton , putting their money , metre , and energy where it count : support the local economyandthe local environment . constitute a reef musket ball at Paradise Cove , and you ’re doing just that .
Paradise Cove Beach Resort
Bahamas Plastic Movement
