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Art2 years ago
The Tree Of Life: I Created An Underwater Electrified Artificial Reef
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I’ve been working as a reef sculptor for the last 4 years and have made several installations that I’m proud of, but none nearly as much as this latest piece.
This “Tree of Life” is an electrified artificial reef, which causes it to form a crust of limestone on its surfaces creating a bio-engineered habitat for the coral that we’ll garden across the sculpture. This is just one piece, a part of a larger electrified site that I’ve been creating through the New Heaven Reef Conservation Program and in partnership with coralAID for the last 2 years. You can find more context on this concept here.
More info: Facebook | Instagram
Growing the Tree
Transportation
Finally 10 meters below the surface of the ocean, the Tree of Life stands
Dascyllus Damsel Fish checking out the latest addition to the seafloor
The work has only just begun. Now to garden this space with small, naturally fragmented coral that we’ll find lying in the sand
These coral fragments, broken by waves and careless activity will be rescued from the sands where they would otherwise die, and fixed to the bars of the sculpture where they’ll thrive and grow into healthy colonies
The sculpture took several months to complete, and in that time it sat on my balcony as a lamp so it wasn’t entirely functionless
It won’t light up my bungalow any more, but it’ll be so much more useful to the marine life that will call it home
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Not only does the tree look beautiful, it also helps save precious coral reefs. You're an amazing person!
Thank you so so much for your words. The intent of these projects is to draw attention to these threatened ecosystems and of course to serve as a home for the corals I so love. If you're interested in more of my work check out my other Bored Panda posts or have a look at some of the articles I've written on my program's page at newheavenreefconservation.org.
Sure!
Thank you so so much for your kind words. The primary intent of these sculptures is to draw more attention to these ecosystems and of course to serve as homes for the coral I so love. Check out more of the stories I've posted on Bored Panda or visit my program's website at newheavenreefconservation.org .
Oops, sorry for the double comment...bad internet out here.
What a great thing you're doing. I wish you would've shown how you attach the coral on to the tree though. That would have been so interesting to see.
We bind corals to the metal structure with metal wire, so it carries the impressed current running through the sculpture and binds the coral to the bars with a layer of limestone, the same material that corals use to build there skeleton. It's been suggested that it improves the growth rates of coral by 3-5 times, but we're running a test to prove that for ourselves as the technology only just became available now that it's 10 year patent has run out. Thanks so much for the kind words!
Here's a picture taken by my friend Shin of more structure that I've put down in the area through the program I work for and the growth of the coral transplants at the site. The structures in this picture have only been down about 2 years, so this hopefully can give you a bit of a sense of the success we're having with our coral gardening. 27356454_1...2c7371.jpg
Thanks for explaining the process. What you're doing is such a wonderful thing. I hope your "underwater gardening" is a big success. I'm glad people like you are out there protecting this vital seascape.
That's amazing
Thank you!
Design and make more!
I most certainly shall! Thanks for the encouragement. Check out my other Bored Panda posts for some of my other projects or check out my program's webpage at newheavenreefconservation.org. Or take a look at some of the articles I put together about more of my work: https://newheavenreefconservation.org/learning-resources/articles/136-an-electric-light-of-hope https://newheavenreefconservation.org/learning-resources/articles/122-drowning-in-despair
I'll check it out. Continue doing the super amazing work! God bless!
So beautiful
Thank you, I so appreciate that! The corals will make it a lot more beautiful too.
This is amazing! Hope you come back here with more pics as the reef grows. Curious, how do oyu fund this project?
Yes! What a good initiative. I want to become an adult quickly so I can start donating my own money to the cause of saving coral.
If more people out there had that attitude we'd all live in a better world. Thanks for caring!
Love it, it was absolutely gorgeous as a light on your porch stunning. But how wonderful to be making this for the good of the coral reefs. Congrats amazing
For a long time I'm thinking about doing volunteering to help life in the ocean, and when I see these things... it just makes me happy, in a complete sense.
Great way to create a new reef and save coral :oD Hope you can post some pictures of it in a few years when the coral grows more! I bet it'll be even more gorgeous :o)
I'll definitely be making more posts in the future about the progress of these artificial reefs. Unfortunately, coral reefs are slow growth ecosystems and these things take time, but on some of my older sculptures we're already seeing some incredible results. Very excited to share it all in the not so distant future!
Awesome :oD And yes, it does take a while, but it'll be very worth it :o)
I'm just too distracted by his abs, not lustfully, I just can't look away
I must say it looked awesome in your bungalow but the purpose of this tree is even more awesome. You're an inspiration!
What country is this in? The pictures are all so beautiful!
Stunning! Two of my life long loves together, trees and the sea. I love it.
The idea being splendid aside - I wan't your bungalow!
Not only does the tree look beautiful, it also helps save precious coral reefs. You're an amazing person!
Thank you so so much for your words. The intent of these projects is to draw attention to these threatened ecosystems and of course to serve as a home for the corals I so love. If you're interested in more of my work check out my other Bored Panda posts or have a look at some of the articles I've written on my program's page at newheavenreefconservation.org.
Sure!
Thank you so so much for your kind words. The primary intent of these sculptures is to draw more attention to these ecosystems and of course to serve as homes for the coral I so love. Check out more of the stories I've posted on Bored Panda or visit my program's website at newheavenreefconservation.org .
Oops, sorry for the double comment...bad internet out here.
What a great thing you're doing. I wish you would've shown how you attach the coral on to the tree though. That would have been so interesting to see.
We bind corals to the metal structure with metal wire, so it carries the impressed current running through the sculpture and binds the coral to the bars with a layer of limestone, the same material that corals use to build there skeleton. It's been suggested that it improves the growth rates of coral by 3-5 times, but we're running a test to prove that for ourselves as the technology only just became available now that it's 10 year patent has run out. Thanks so much for the kind words!
Here's a picture taken by my friend Shin of more structure that I've put down in the area through the program I work for and the growth of the coral transplants at the site. The structures in this picture have only been down about 2 years, so this hopefully can give you a bit of a sense of the success we're having with our coral gardening. 27356454_1...2c7371.jpg
Thanks for explaining the process. What you're doing is such a wonderful thing. I hope your "underwater gardening" is a big success. I'm glad people like you are out there protecting this vital seascape.
That's amazing
Thank you!
Design and make more!
I most certainly shall! Thanks for the encouragement. Check out my other Bored Panda posts for some of my other projects or check out my program's webpage at newheavenreefconservation.org. Or take a look at some of the articles I put together about more of my work: https://newheavenreefconservation.org/learning-resources/articles/136-an-electric-light-of-hope https://newheavenreefconservation.org/learning-resources/articles/122-drowning-in-despair
I'll check it out. Continue doing the super amazing work! God bless!
So beautiful
Thank you, I so appreciate that! The corals will make it a lot more beautiful too.
This is amazing! Hope you come back here with more pics as the reef grows. Curious, how do oyu fund this project?
Yes! What a good initiative. I want to become an adult quickly so I can start donating my own money to the cause of saving coral.
If more people out there had that attitude we'd all live in a better world. Thanks for caring!
Love it, it was absolutely gorgeous as a light on your porch stunning. But how wonderful to be making this for the good of the coral reefs. Congrats amazing
For a long time I'm thinking about doing volunteering to help life in the ocean, and when I see these things... it just makes me happy, in a complete sense.
Great way to create a new reef and save coral :oD Hope you can post some pictures of it in a few years when the coral grows more! I bet it'll be even more gorgeous :o)
I'll definitely be making more posts in the future about the progress of these artificial reefs. Unfortunately, coral reefs are slow growth ecosystems and these things take time, but on some of my older sculptures we're already seeing some incredible results. Very excited to share it all in the not so distant future!
Awesome :oD And yes, it does take a while, but it'll be very worth it :o)
I'm just too distracted by his abs, not lustfully, I just can't look away
I must say it looked awesome in your bungalow but the purpose of this tree is even more awesome. You're an inspiration!
What country is this in? The pictures are all so beautiful!
Stunning! Two of my life long loves together, trees and the sea. I love it.
The idea being splendid aside - I wan't your bungalow!