Reason
for starting this programAs previously mentioned this reef was started with the 100 concrete blocks as new artificial reef which was provided by Department of Marine and Coastal Resources in July of 2006. This club is custom-built by the DMCR to observe and analyse the aqua life and the corals which were sooner uprooted to the reef.
The blocks were warily lifted and placed to shape 3 concrete underwater pyramids and this was done by a specially appointed team which consisted professional divemasters and Instructors. A single block is weighed 1000 kgs and at a measure of 1.5 cubic meters. It took months to finish this job.
The Main Point of this program
More speculation was there on the so-called benefits adjoining artificial reefs. People used different things to adjoin. Few liked to use reef balls; few used rubber tyres, while some preferred to send electrical shocks through iron bars. Opinion of few was that the reefs will take care of themselves as they did a century ago and thought not to involve.
The impact of anthropogenic stresses by the world such as commercial net fishing, blast fishing, cyanide fishing, the tourism industry, loss of coastal habitats such as mangroves, and now global warming to name just a few, are putting added stress on the reef's natural ability to regenerate which impacts the world.
We may see a mere loss of the coral reefs in another 40 years as the damage and killing of reefs rate has been increasing. As reefs are the significant breeding to the grounds for many of the ocean's fish, this will result a loss in fish populations. In addition, coral reefs give a substantial percentage of the planet's oxygen. Bearing in mind the importance of the ocean's fish population's as a major food source, the implications are tremendously severe.
Purpose
The DMCR survey of the Andaman Sea confirms that 80 out of 100 divers would make contact with a reef either intentionally or inadvertently, 4 to 5 times within a normal dive.
Taking into consideration the thousands of dives made every year on each reef it is understandable that there is huge impact to the reef. The notion behind creating this particular artificial reef is to see whether it can fruitfully attract divers and therefore reduce the stress on the natural reef.
Moreover, it will expectantly be an additional tool to help edify the nations of the world to the instantaneous perils facing coral reefs and the need for people to change the way they use the ocean.Coral Nursery
Phuket Marine Biology Center, which is supported by The Adventure Club, installed an underwater floating coral nursery in April 2006.
Israel National Institute of Oceanography researchers who participated in a cooperative research project with the PMBC and researchers from 4 other countries, UK, Italy, Singapore, and Philippines, under the programme “Developing ubiquitous practices for restoration of Indo-Pacific reefs”, REEFRES, supported by European Commission got the idea of coral nursery.
The first nursery was home to 1500 fragments which have since been transplanted to the concrete blocks and also natural substrates in 2006.
In February 2007 the next nursery was set up and in October we needed the help of at least 20 experienced divers to help transplant the corals to the natural reef area which is known as Table Coral City.