William Penn Life, 1989 (24. évfolyam, 1-12. szám)
1989-01-01 / 1. szám
January 1989, William Penn Life, Page 3 Member’s inventiveness saves fragile reefs To many, Halas is "a big-time hero ” Greensburg considers the mooring system "the only successful protective action taken since the area became a park.” By Margo Harakas The Sun-Sentinel KEY LARGO, FL — On a bright weekday afternoon about five miles east of Key Largo, a dozen pleasure boats lie over Molasses Reef. In the glistening waters below, scuba divers slide through school after school of yellowtail, snapper, file fish, damsel, sergeant major. They move together, fish and man, under the ledges and along the ridges of the craggy reef. Despite the number of boats in the area this day, not one is gouging or scouring the fragile reef with its anchor. Instead, each of the vessels is tethered to a sea buoy. William Penn Branch 226 member John Halas slows the motor on his twin-engine 20- footer. The sight of the boats bobbing against the cotton candy sky pleases him. Their tie lines are witness to his own inventiveness. Halas, a sports diver, treasure hunter and biologist for the Key Largo National Marine Sanctuary, is creator of a reef buoy system that — much to his surprise — is catching on worldwide, sending him packing to distant waters and causing some to dub this unassuming fellow a savior of the reefs. The appellation makes the laidback Halas squirm. After all, he tells you, others had a hand in the success of the device. Still, to many — underwater photographer Michael Greenburg of Miami among them — Halas is "a big-time hero.” Prior to the introduction of Halas’ mooring system, Greenburg says, it was not unusual to see as many as 30 or 40 boats clawing the coral apart with their anchors. Now, he says, in areas equipped with Halas’ device, the destruction has decreased as much as 80 percent. Greenburg considers the mooring system "the only successful protective action taken since the area became a park.” The idea of placing mooring buoys around reefs is far from new. The problem was finding a way to anchor the buoy without ravaging the very reef Halas was trying to protect. "I got to thinking about drilling holes into the limestone bedrock,” says Halas. He was borrowing a bit, so to speak, from his friend Harold Hudson of the U.S. Geological Survey in Miami Beach. Hudson had been taking core samples from reefs to study their history, and closing the resulting wounds with cement. 'T asked Hudson what he thought about the idea, about cementing a stainless steel eye bolt into the hole,” Halas recalls. In 1981, Halas, Hudson, and Hudson’s colleague Dan Robbin donned scuba gear and cruised out to French Reef — to plant seeds, as it were. Seeds that in time would blossom into a field dotted with 120 mooring buoys. Initially, some boat captains were skeptical, feeling this was somehow the first step toward government control. Now, they are converts all. "We’d like to see 100 more out there,” raves Spencer Slate of Atlantis Dive Center in Key Largo. Early on, the captains discovered that it’s faster and easier to tie up to a buoy than to drop and haul anchor. And while Halas wasn’t thinking aesthetics, he’s being praised for sensitivity in that area as well. "All you see is a little eye bolt out there. You don’t see railroad wheels or cement blocks,” says sanctuary manager Mike White. Also, there’s no annoying clanking of chains. "There are natural sounds [underwater] that you want to hear, that of snapping shrimp and the sounds made by fish,” White says. "You don’t want all the man-made noises intruding.” Word of Halas’ unique device has spread throughout the world. As a result, he has been invited to speak at reef symposiums in Tahiti and Australia and he has supervised installation of his system in Malaysia, Grand Cayman and the Netherland Antilles. Maui has put in a similar system and Guam, Saipan and Belize are talking about doing the same. Reef Relief, a non-profit conservation organization in Key West, is overseeing installation of the system in six popular reef zones in that area. And in Fort Lauderdale, Ocean Watch Foundation, a non-profit organization of divers, is trying to find funds to place Halas’ buoys off Broward County. That Halas’ inventiveness hasn’t enriched him financially doesn’t bother him in the least. Leaning back in his chair in the trailer that serves as sanctuary offices in Key Largo, he clasps his hands, crosses his sandaled feet and looks for all the world like someone proud of a job well done. While the reef still is threatened by boat groundings, pollution and a host of other stresses, at least the anchor damage has been lessened. And that alone is worth celebrating. "I’m just glad,” Halas says, "I had the job and the time and support to figure out what to do.” Welcome To Our Fraternal Family JAMES BARRETT II Scranton, PA ANDREW J. BARTUS Hawthorn Woods, IL JENNIFER M. BOKA Skokie, IL We happily present for your enjoyment more or our newest William Penn Association members. If you have a child age 5 or under who recently joined our Association, send us his or her photo so that all our members can welcome him or her to our fraternal family. All photographs will be published on a first-come, first'served basis. NICOLE BURLOCK Youngstown, OH SARAH E. FRIESTAD Skokie, IL tiV. ■ BROCK JANNEY Pittsburgh, PA TODD &. STEPHEN ORR Youngstown, OH
