By Emily Higgins | Director of Ocean Science
Following the success found during second year of monitoring of the "Homes for the Ocean's Homeless" project in Sint Maarten, we have been designing our next phase of research and restoration.
The IntelliReefs artificial reefs off the coast of Philipsburg have been found to enhance biodiversity, increase coral settlement, feed fish 4x higher than other artificial reef materials, and accelerate the regrowing of a healthy reef community.
With these results, we are moving forward with Phase 4 of the project to scale up our restoration work. Working with the Nature Foundation Sint Maarten and IntelliReefs, we have designed a large scale habitat restoration system called "ReefShip". This modular system integrates within the existing natural reef system and provides additional, bio mimicking habitat for fish, corals, and bio diverse reef species where it is needed the most.
We are currently speaking with private funders interested in a participatory conservation experience in Sint Maarten. We have designed an ecotourism experience with local tourism companies for our funders to witness and participate in our next phase of deployment and research. The story will be documented with an international film crew.
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