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Reward Offered in Reef Damage Case
A local conservation group has announced a $2,500 reward for information leading to the prosecution of those responsible for damage to The Breakers reef.
Palm Beach County Reef Rescue is also offering rewards for information about any coral damage in the county — particularly from boat anchors.
Sometime between Oct. 26 and Nov. 4, a vessel ripped through sponges and tore massive brain coral from the reef, located in roughly 50 feet of water about a mile offshore of The Breakers.
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Divers from the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission and representatives from Palm Beach County's Environmental Resources Management department plan to survey the damage today and report their findings to the public.
Frustrated with state officials' response time, some area scuba enthusiasts have been righting the overturned coral themselves, said Steve Spring, of Palm Beach County Reef Rescue.
Although it is against state law to damage or touch coral, Spring has heard reports of people working to carefully flip the coral back over to prevent additional polyps from dying.
"There's a lot of people who love this reef, and they waited a while and they waited a while, and now they're doing it," Spring said.
Van Blakeman, captain of the dive boat Narcosis, who first reported the reef damage to Spring, has heard similar accounts of area divers trying to help.
"It's just really hard for someone to swim by and not do something," he said. "It's like seeing a small animal on the side of the road in distress."
Palm Beach County Reef Rescue told the DEP and the FWC about the damage last week, but the agencies had to wait for favorable weather before sending dive teams to assess and repair the reef, spokeswomen said.
Also, most of the agencies' reef resources have been dispatched to Broward County, where a dive boat recently ran aground and damaged a reef, said Cristina Llorens, spokeswoman for DEP.
Agency officials request that recreational divers — however well-intentioned — not touch the coral unless they have a special activity license to do so.
Not only can moving the coral cause damage, but it makes it difficult for assessment teams to determine which coral is injured and needs to be re-attached to the reef, said Erin McDevitt, a biologist and diver with FWC.
Spring said about a half-dozen people have telephoned him to report seeing tugboats, barges and freighters passing near the reef during the Oct. 26-Nov. 4 timeframe, but details are always too vague.
Divers familiar with the reef believe the damage, estimated to be as long as two football fields, is consistent with dragging of a tugboat tow cable or a line used to pluck lobster traps off the ocean floor, said Ed Tichenor, director of Palm Beach County Reef Rescue.
He's intent that the responsible party will be found.
"We're pretty persistent," Tichenor said. "We don't give up. We don't go away."
Unsatisfied with state officials' enforcement of the laws that protect coral, Reef Rescue volunteers are videotaping any violators in Palm Beach County. Reef Rescue divers particularly target boaters who damage coral by tossing anchors onto it.
Fines for damaging coral are as high as $10,000 per incident, but if the damaged coral is listed under the Endangered Species Act, fines can reach $25,000, according to Reef Rescue.
To report tips on The Breakers' reef damage, call Palm Beach County Reef Rescue at (561) 699-8559 or visit the Web site, www.reef-rescue.org.
To report tips on reef damage in general, call the FWC's Wildlife Alert Hotline at (888) 404-3922.
source: Palm Beach Daily News
