Abstract

Between 2002 and 2007, the Reef Environmental Education Foundation (REEF) conducted monitoring on the fish assemblages of two modified reef areas off Key Largo, Florida. The first project focused on the Spiegel Grove, a 510’ Navy Landing Ship Dock that was intentionally sunk off Key Largo in 2002 to serve as a recreational diving and fishing artificial reef. Monitoring included the ship as well as seven nearby natural and artificial reef sites. For each monitoring project, a team of Advanced Assessment Team REEF Experts conducted Roving Diver Technique visual surveys. Belt transect surveys were also conducted as part of the Wellwood project in order to document size frequency shifts and more quantitative shifts in density of key taxa. The second project included an area damaged by the M/V Wellwood, a 122-meter freighter that ran aground in 1984 on Molasses Reef. The ship impacted the reef’s upper forereef and remained aground for 12 days. The grounding destroyed 1,285 square meters of living corals and injured 644 square meters of coral reef framework. In 2002, limestone reef modules were placed in the injured area to provide substrate for new coral colonization. Monitoring included the restoration modules and contiguous low profile hardbottom areas adjacent to and in between the modules. Nearby reference sites were also surveyed to include areas that were closest in proximity to the grounding area while remaining undamaged and unrestored. Baseline surveys were conducted for both projects prior to the treatment (restoration and deployment).

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