Water-Related News

FGCU creating artificial reef off Wiggins Pass near Bonita field station

Florida Gulf Coast University is expanding again, this time into the Gulf of Mexico.

Professor and researcher Mike Parsons, who is part of FGCU's Water School, is spearheading the push to build a new artificial reef several miles off the coast of North Naples.

"For a couple of years we’ve been interested in putting an artificial reef out close to us at (the) Vester (Marine and Environmental Science Research Field Station in Bonita Springs)," Parsons said. "And we've surveyed an area about eight miles west of Wiggins Pass pass in about 30 feet of water with a nice sand bottom."

Called the FGCU Artificial Reef, the project will consist of a collage of large concrete structures that were donated by Cape Coral concrete company Old Castle.