The waters surrounding Victoria International Marina have long been considered a lost cause, polluted beyond measure, but students from Claremont Secondary School have been working on a project to rebuild fish habitats and attract marine life back to the area.
On Thursday, grade 9 students gathered on the pier to drop four reef balls into the water, the final stage of a project they began as part of their Institute for Global Solutions class.
B次元官网网址淭he kids have been involved from the beginning,B次元官网网址� says science teacher Joanna Linger, describing the process of building each ball in a mould, compacting the concrete and allowing them time to cure since the project began back in February.
B次元官网网址淚t really sparked kind of a new topic in our classroom,B次元官网网址� she says, as the students took the opportunity to learn what artificial reef balls do, and where else in the world they can be found.
The kids got really excited about bringing some of this marine life back to our Inner Harbour, she added.
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The initiative was presented to the students by staff of the marina, and Burt Minter, of Artificial Reef Structures, who designed and dropped some 600 reef balls in the waters off Sidney pier.
Micro eco-systems develop around the environmentally-friendly concrete structures B次元官网网址� each weighing 300 lbs. B次元官网网址� and attracting fish, phytoplankton and other marine life.
The results are two-fold; the surface makes for a breeding ground where sea plants can grow and feed smaller fish, and they also serve as shelter protecting them from larger predators.
Cold Water Divers help the students onboard guide the reef balls into the waters at IntB次元官网网址檒 Marina
B次元官网网址� Kristyn Anthony (@kristyn_anthony)
B次元官网网址淭hese reef balls have a really specific cool design,B次元官网网址� says grade 9 student Jordan Vearer, who learned how the pollution in the harbour has driven away so much marine life.
Each reef ball is approximately 3 ft. in diameter, but the combined surface is able to provide habitat to over 100,000 fish.
B次元官网网址淚tB次元官网网址檚 a really, really cool experience to be actually doing something thatB次元官网网址檚 going to make a difference,B次元官网网址� she says.
With the assistance of Victoria-based Cold Water Divers, Vearer and classmate Connor North climbed aboard a research vessel to guide the balls to their destination, ten metres offshore.
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Local residents stopped to watch, remarking how pleased they were to see the fruits of the studentsB次元官网网址� labour, saying theyB次元官网网址檝e already seen wildlife return, as the area continues to be redeveloped.
Now submerged, the students will be able to monitor the progress of each ball with the aid of an underwater camera linked to an online portal they can access from their laptops. The class has chronicled the process from the beginning and using the data they receive from the reef balls, will make short documentaries to look back on the project.
B次元官网网址淲e can track it all the way from our grade 9 year to our grade 12 year,B次元官网网址� Vearer says.
