In the film Finding Nemo, Nemo escaped the Dentist's office by listening to the older, wiser Gill say that "all drains lead to the ocean." Our waterways and canals are the "drains" of South Florida. As community members of South Florida, we are literally surrounded by water that leads both to the Everglades and to our oceans. We rely on our canals to "flush" excess water out to sea. Any fertilizer runoff, industrial runoff, inadequate sewage treatment, litter, and so on may end up compromising the health of our waterways as well as the surrounding coastal ecosystems and coral reefs so vitally important to South Florida's ecology and economy. Our land-based actions are causing ecosystem decline and we are losing our coral reefs.

Coral reefs serve as indicators of ocean health and they are dying! Here at South Plantation High School's (SPHS) Everglades Restoration and Environmental Science Magnet Program, our students are doing what they can to help. The R.A.R.E. C.O.R.A.L Project (Restoration through Artificial Reef Education: Creating Outreach Reefs through Alternative Learning) originated as a service-learning activity, in collaboration with Girl Scouts of the USA and Florida Learn & Serve. The R.A.R.E. C.O.R.A.L. Project strives to enhance science education while serving a dire environmental need in our community. This project aligns with the United States Coral Reef Task Force's (USCRTF) Southeast Florida Coral Reef Initiative (SEFCRI).

The R.A.R.E. C.O.R.A.L. project's ORB (Operation Reef Ball) team deployed two artificial reefs, inshore at Oleta River State Recreation Area and offshore at Golden Beach, to help restoration efforts. The ORB team chose to pour concrete reef balls (shaped like whiffle balls cut in half) weighing from 500 lbs to 1500 lbs as the substrate for our artificial reef. So far, our ORB team has deployed 25 reef balls at our two sites. Multiple partners have been extremely helpful in orchestrating deployment of our two existing artificial reefs. We are in the process of constructing 20 more reef balls to create another artificial reef.

To facilitate community awareness, our ORB team has become "Environmental Ambassadors" and have created and presented several "Edu-tainment" programs for students and scouts at varying age levels. Our students are now working to create, distribute, and present coral reef conservation hand-on learning labs for area middle schools and community events. Participants learn how waterway habitats are affected by human interaction and how properly constructed artificial reefs may provide protection and stability for marine life. The program presents a hands-on environmental experience that strengthens outdoor skills (orienteering, GPS Mapping, and water safety) while participating in a habitat restoration Service-Learning project. Participants at these outreach events construct reef balls for the R.A.R.E. C.O.R.A.L. reef sites. We will turn the tide on coral degradation through environmental service learning!

PARTNER STATEMENT

Conservation International (CI) is proud to sponsor the R.A.R.E. C.O.R.A.L. project in its efforts to combat the decline of coral reef habitats. Through a network of creative partnerships across their community, these ambitious students are enhancing marine biodiversity in a highly-impacted region and are instilling a conservation ethic among local residents. We look forward to following the progress of their environmental education and reef monitoring activities in the future.