This month Dive Tribe have been working on a new artificial reef structure to place into there conservation area of Koh Sak island. The artificial reef has been made from scrap iron purchased by the team members of Dive Tribe and all the welding and cutting including building the jig has also been carried out by the team members.

The reef has been designed as modular piece, each piece can fit into the back of the trucks and when placed on the sea bed they will be bolted together to form an X shape. 
Theere will be a total of 4 points of entry and in the center will be a chimney for vertical swim through. The total amont of modular pieces to build the reef will be 46 and Dive Tribe are looking for sponsors for each 3 piece modular structure.
For all sponsors of this project , we will be welding  a steel name plate onto each structure, there engraved names living on in the sea with the corals and fish.

This reef will be sunk as part of the ongoing mooring buoy project, so this means that as soon as we have the vital protection in the sea to protect it , we will then start to place the structure on the sea bed and  bolt it together.     

The artificial reef is built for part recreation , we hope the shape will give divers something fun to swim through, practice buoyancy control and admire the new fish life that starts to move in.
Secondly it is part scientific , the reef has been designed in such a way that we can add different mediums for coral recruitment and there will be many added features welded to the outside for some of the marine fauna to move straight into.
The corals we will be adding to the structure will all be along the outside and through the tunnel swim through we will be using frayed rope at the entrances to work as fish aggregators.
The whole structure is anchored down in two ways , firstly by concrete bocks on the seabed and secondly by using large J shaped rebar which are anchored to the structure and the seabed.
There will be mooring buoys near the structure so boats can moor safely and around the area the structure has been sunk we hope we can put a circle of smaller buoys to mark off the area.and keep it safe.
If the structure is hit and damaged by an anchor pieces can be replaced easily because of its modular design.

WHY AN ARTIFICIAL REEF?

Over time in Pattaya we have noticed that the reefs close to shore have been the target for fishing and mass tourism. We hope that by placing an artificial reef structure out on the sea bed, it will help give a a small barrier to the natural reefs by making fishing vessels more cautious of where they throw there nets . Tourism is on the rise in Thailand and inparticular in Pattaya. With the rise of tourism comes more people wanting to do recreational sports such as scuba diving, we want to be able to offer scuba divers more choice of diving sites and we  this may take some of the pressure off the natural reefs.
This artificial reef will also act as a monitoring station, we will be collecting data from the day it is placed on the seabed , we will be adding new corals to the structure and monitoring what takes up residence there. By compiling a stock list of all living creatures around the area we then know better what and how to protect them.

How Can I Support This Project

Dive Tribe are actively looking for sponsors to help us with this project. All we are asking is for 2500 thb or $80 usd and we will build three structure from steel bolt them together on the seabed and then weld you own personal steel name plate onto that structure with the date it was placed into the ocean. All the divers that come and dive on the structure can then thank you for helping us with this project. Your name under the water on a reef in Thailand for many years to come. We will photograph the installation of your reef and send a clear picture of your name plate on the structure. A great birthday or Christmas gift for a marine conservationist and a great gift to the oceans.
How do you sponsor ? 
Simply CLICK here and be taken to our artificial reefs page where there is a donate to the cause button 
Thanks Again for Your Support........ 
Together we are really making a change for the better !!!