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Joe Weatherby, president of the nonprofit Artificial Reef of the Keys, hasenthusiasm that’s contagious. So much so that, after a few hours of recentnegotiations and presentations, the Key West District Advisory Council to theMonroe County Tourist Development Council voted to support making the Gen. HoytS. Vandenberg, a 553-foot, 13,000-ton vessel, an artificial reef in Key Westwaters.
With approval of the County Commission Wednesday, that support will translateinto a much-needed $250,000 to help finance the scuttling.
A project to sink off the Upper Keys the 510-foot Spiegel Grove, like theVandenberg a former Navy ship, also has a $250,000 commitment from the county.
While the Spiegel Grove project has long been delayed, the Vandenberg sinkingseems to be moving quicker.
Over the past year and a half, Weatherby has garnered the support of more than30 local organizations, including the Key West Chamber of Commerce, Reef Reliefand the Lodging Association, and federal agencies such as the U.S. Coast Guardand National Oceanic and Atmosphere Association, which governs the Florida KeysNational Marine Sanctuary.
The wide range of endorsements make it clear that the Key West community viewsit as a project that umbrellas the benefits and interests of business, educationand environment alike.
“As it is,” said Weatherby, “all artificial reefs are hugely successful.They grow fish where there are none by providing the needed habitat.”
Since 1980, there have been more than 400 deliberate sinkings to make artificialreefs, generating new biomasses in those areas. But certain components of theKey West project set it apart from other artificial reefs.
One thing is size. But larger than size is the fact that Artificial Reef of theKeys was cited by the RAND Corp., a federal think tank, as the prototype forartificial reefs. Stamped with National Marine Sanctuary approval and workingwith the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to garner support there, as well,Artificial Reef of the Keys is already providing an educational platform for themonitoring process, through collaborative efforts of Florida Keys CommunityCollege.
Distance learning is just one of the educational projects already underway, andwith verbal agreements from remotely operated vehicle manufacturers made duringthe recent Diving, Equipment and Marketing Association trade show, a student inMiddle America will be able to operate their device live over the Internet.
“Manufacturers were wild about the idea, and have agreed to test it here. KeyWest will be the epicenter for this kind of education,” said Weatherby.
According to Bob Smith, program director of diving technology at the college,distance learning is already an increasing interest throughout the state, andone that is very important to the college. Because of the surrounding marineenvironment, the college is able to respond to the distance-learning initiativein terms of exporting rather than importing.
“And,” said Smith, “the [Vandenberg] project is a terrific stage to dothat from. We’re very excited about the potential.”
In short, Artificial Reef of the Keys is making its mark as more than justsinking the premiere recreational dive site. It is setting a precedent in theworld of manmade reefs and underwater classroom gateways. With the support ofresearch and data to study the effects on users and the environment (collectedat no cost and already implemented in the curriculum), Smith “hopes toincrease funding to expand the data collecting” in order to create whatscience calls “increasing the end and making things statisticallysignificant.”
But the ship’s not sunk yet. Even with the TDC grant and funding from theJimmy Buffet Singing For Change Foundation and PADI Project Aware, battleshipVandenberg needs the navigation of a serious fund-raising campaign in order toleave the docks of James River, Va. — where the Spiegel Grove has beensitting.
With that, new sponsors and Weatherby’s ideas and vision for continuedfunding, the Vandenberg likely will meet its final resting ground sometime nextspring. For more information, go online to www.bigshipwrecks.com.
