The positive impacts of reef balls
By Jon Dorsey, RJD Intern
It is evident that the ocean’s conditions are changing at alarming rates due to natural disasters and man’s activities. Pressures such as global warming, hurricanes and boat groundings all increase the environmental and physical stresses on delicate coral reefs. As a consequence of these increases pressured, coral reefs are rapidly reducing in size. After witnessing the destruction of the corals reefs off Grand Cayman after a hurricane passed through, Todd Barber founded the Reef Ball Foundation in 1993. Originally this foundation was focused on building these structures solely for coral reef restoration, but their innovative design has opened doors to many other types of restoration projects such as oyster reefs, mangrove plantings, and even beach erosion control.