Reports on Rebuild Coral Reefs With Nanoscience

Fish behaviour and feeding on Reef Life's habitats

IntelliReefs Ocean Buffets

In November 2018, the Reef Life Team deployed 3 pilot IntelliReefs Oceanite structures off the coast of Philipsburg, Sint Maarten to compare the recruitment of marine life between the natural reefs and IntelliReefs artificial reefs. Our researchers analyzed the animal and plant community directly on the structure and the fish community that feed on and shelter inside the IntelliReefs. We found that fish are feeding off the IntelliReefs approximately every 15 seconds. This is nearly 4x higher than other healthy natural and artificial reefs using the same remote monitoring methods. Fish species have different feeding preferences: some only feed on plankton and small fish, others are purely vegetarians, and others still are omnivores, eating whatever they can find. Many of the foods that fish depend on grow on hard substrates and can be difficult to find on degraded reefs. IntelliReefs promote rapid, healthy, biodiverse growth of the species that feed fish on coral reefs.

Reef Life restores coral reefs using IntelliReefs biomimicking nanotechnology habitats. IntelliReefs are cast from bioenhancing proprietary mineral mixtures called Oceanite. Our mixtures are chosen to enhance the growth and development of desired species and can be completely customized to site and function - including pH values. Unlike Portland cement, the pH of Oceanite mineral mixtures is customizable, which allows us to create ideal growth conditions for target species by fine-tuning and controlling substrate pH. Portland cement and 3D printing binders can burn animal tissues when they come into contact with it because it has a pH around 12. Oceanite mixtures can currently attain a pH as low as 8.1, corresponding directly to the surrounding ocean’s pH value. The porosity of the material provides more surface area for animals to live in the crevices, creating a living substrate that is unparalleled in marine construction materials. Within months, Oceanite can foster nearly 100% coverage of a healthy benthic coral reef community, feeding fish populations quickly.

The result of prolonged and severe reef degradation is that reefs around the world are being flattened. This leaves fish populations on the reefs without food and shelter, making them more vulnerable to predation, disease, and fishing. IntelliReefs have been found to not only provide non-toxic, pH balanced additional habitat to shelter fish, but also grow healthy, vibrant reef communities with nearly 100% cover of marine organisms for fish to feed on within months of deployment.

As overfishing and reef degradation intensify around the world, the compounding effects of biodiversity and species loss will be felt by over a billion people (13% globally) who rely on reefs for food and economic security. While many countries have deployed artificial reefs to address these issues, the vast majority of man-made underwater structures are not large enough, durable enough, or biologically viable enough to make a real difference on an ecologically relevant scale. The biological and physical benefits of IntelliReefs address the most pressing conservation concerns globally.