return to History & News

TheMiami Herald

           Published Wednesday, April 11, 2001

           REEF PLAN SHIPSHAPE

           Preparation for Vandenberg sinking begins

           BY LISA FUSS

           lfuss@herald.com

           The creation of a massive artificial reef off Key West is more than ayear away, but the advance work involved in the $2.2 million underwater projectis already under way.

 Scubadivers equipped with waterproof slates have been surveying the ocean bottom forweeks, counting fish and recording their findings as part of a comprehensivestudy that will be used to gauge the long-term effects of artificial reefs onthe marine environment.

Numerousgovernment agencies and bodies, including the Florida Department ofEnvironmental Protection and the Key West City Commission, have already agreedto sink the decommissioned 1944 warship Gen. Hoyt S. Vandenberg in the FloridaKeys National Marine Sanctuary, likely in May 2002.

The13,000-ton ship, which is more than five football fields in length, would be thelargest vessel ever intentionally scuttled for use as an artificial reef. Therelic, docked in James Rivers, Va., would serve recreational fishermen anddivers in 140 feet of water between Western Sambos Ecological Reserve and SandKey.

Whensunk, the vessel's superstructure is expected to reach depths of up to 50 feet,making it available to novice divers while the bottom half would provide achallenge for advanced divers. Although there's no telling what types of marinelife will frequent the Vandenberg once it is submerged, marine enthusiasts sayall indications point to a thrilling dive.

``Let'sjust say that most of the diving destinations around Key West won't even bedestinations after the Vandenberg goes down,'' said Joe Weatherby, president ofArtificial Reefs of the Keys and a local dive boat captain who is trying toraise another $1.5 million to sink the ship.

Volunteerdivers, all recently trained in fish counting, have identified 162 differentspecies of fish in coral and hard-bottom areas around the designated sinkingsite.

Fromunique yellow-cheeked wrasse to protected jewfish, surveyors discovered both alarge and diverse population of fish in waters there as deep as 50 feet.

Marineexperts plan to continue documenting fish data, as well as information aboutwater quality and recreational usage patterns, in an effort to obtain abefore-and-after snapshot of the artificial reef's impact.

Onlytwo ships have been intentionally sunk in the sanctuary -- Ocean Freeze nearBiscayne National Park and Adolphus Busch off Summerland Key. Scientists stillaren't sure what, if any, effects they've had.

Athird, the Spiegel Grove, is in the final scuttling stages before it can be sunkoff Key Largo.

Sanctuaryspokeswoman Cheva Heck was one of 34 divers who participated in the recent fishcount and called her live-aboard experience -- which included 12 dives overthree days -- ``an intense education.''

Witha sanctuary moratorium in place preventing the sinking of any further artificialreefs, Heck contends the scientific strides being taken with the Vandenbergcould help determine whether Keys divers and fishermen will have any moreartificial reefs to enjoy.

``It'sreally unprecedented, the way they're going about gathering data before the shiphas even been put down,'' Heck said.

``Thisis really going to allow us to look at the big picture, before the sanctuaryallows any other projects to go forward,'' she added.

      © 2001 The Miami Herald and wire service sources. All Rights Reserved.

      http://www.miami.com/herald