GLENFWB
Contributor
Saw an interesting report on WEAR Channel 3 in Pensacola tonight. This is pretty good news if it all comes to pass and is done in the right way. Go to the link to see the video I have pasted the text of the story below the link.
WEAR ABC 3 :: Top Stories - Artificial Reefs Placed off Coast of Portofino
PENSACOLA BEACH - A new reef project in the Gulf of Mexico is expected to pay big dividends for an industry devastated by the oil spill.
In the next few weeks crews will drop 19 pairs of artificial reefs offshore just east of Portofino which is expected to bring droves of snorkelers and divers.
Tim Rak's been diving and snorkeling in the Gulf of Mexico since moving here from Cleveland 8 years ago.
"The good part about Pensacola diving is our waters are crystal clear... the bottoms are beautiful."
But Tim and the owners of the Scuba Shack in Pensacola say there's very little to see close to shore.
"The Visitors Center frequently calls me to say I have people here who wanna go snorkeling... where can they go?"
But after two years of struggle, Escambia County finally got the U.S. Army Corp of Engineers to approve the use of these artificial reefs which are expected to boost snorkeling and offshore diving numbers tremendously.
"Visibility sometimes on the Gulf, within the first 1/2 mile... is all the way down.. you can see 30 feet down, and so its very safe... and it doesn't take that much time to go out there... do a dive and come on back."
And it couldn't come at a better time for the dive industry.
"After this past year, of course with the oil spill being here... our business has literally been dead. So, any little help .... anything is a welcome relief for us as divers and people who are in the business."
And any day now, the county expects to get approval to put the same type of reefs in on the soundside, right here, near the entrance to Fort Pickens.
There is also a third reef project in the works off Perdido Key.
But the County Marine Resources Division is still trying to determine an exact location for those reefs.
WEAR ABC 3 :: Top Stories - Artificial Reefs Placed off Coast of Portofino
PENSACOLA BEACH - A new reef project in the Gulf of Mexico is expected to pay big dividends for an industry devastated by the oil spill.
In the next few weeks crews will drop 19 pairs of artificial reefs offshore just east of Portofino which is expected to bring droves of snorkelers and divers.
Tim Rak's been diving and snorkeling in the Gulf of Mexico since moving here from Cleveland 8 years ago.
"The good part about Pensacola diving is our waters are crystal clear... the bottoms are beautiful."
But Tim and the owners of the Scuba Shack in Pensacola say there's very little to see close to shore.
"The Visitors Center frequently calls me to say I have people here who wanna go snorkeling... where can they go?"
But after two years of struggle, Escambia County finally got the U.S. Army Corp of Engineers to approve the use of these artificial reefs which are expected to boost snorkeling and offshore diving numbers tremendously.
"Visibility sometimes on the Gulf, within the first 1/2 mile... is all the way down.. you can see 30 feet down, and so its very safe... and it doesn't take that much time to go out there... do a dive and come on back."
And it couldn't come at a better time for the dive industry.
"After this past year, of course with the oil spill being here... our business has literally been dead. So, any little help .... anything is a welcome relief for us as divers and people who are in the business."
And any day now, the county expects to get approval to put the same type of reefs in on the soundside, right here, near the entrance to Fort Pickens.
There is also a third reef project in the works off Perdido Key.
But the County Marine Resources Division is still trying to determine an exact location for those reefs.