STUART, Fla. — At the Florida Oceanographic Center in Stuart, feeding time gets the attention of the inhabitants of the Gamefish Lagoon.
Now, a two-ton piece of concrete hopes to capture that same attention. Two 3-D printed concrete reefs were lowered into the water on Tuesday.
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Bryan Danson, director of Animal Care and Life Support at Florida Oceanographic Center, told WPTV that the reef will provide several benefits, especially for injured turtles when they arrive.
"(It will provide) places that they can rest naturally on the bottom, where they can behave like a normal turtle will improve their livelihoods," Danson said.
Florida Oceanographic Center Executive Director Mark Perry said the new reefs join one that was created two years ago.
"I said, 'Hey, these are great. They're working good. Let's have a couple more,'" Perry said.
WPTV was at the center when Printera, then operating under a different business name, began experimenting with the reef concept in their Martin County facility back in 2022.
"We're using a new type of concrete, so it's a little stronger, and it's domestically sourced, where before we had to import the materials," D'Angelo said.
The new reefs were created in about three hours at a cost of about $4,000. That's faster and cheaper than the original version.
If you look down at the top of the reef, you'll see something different. There are PVC pipes at the top, which can be used to place coral and other objects to create more of a natural aquatic environment.
"As we add different things to the lagoon, the fish will come and check it out, and it's enrichment for them," Danson said.
The rainbow shape of the reef allows fish both big and small to swim up, over and through the reef.
The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission had to sign off on its use, and not every new reef needs to be this size.
"We can do small things to enrich sea life under an individual's dock or apply to their own seawall," D'Angelo said.
Printera is looking at one day deploying the reefs into the ocean.
