Artificial Reef Cubes That Help Heal the Corals of Phuket
Many dive sites in Phuket are home to artificial reefs, an initiative that has been ongoing for many years and definitely pays off. Racha Yai was severely affected by coral bleaching in 2010. A huge storm a few years later destroyed what little was left of the coral. A couple of wrecks and a maze of cubes were sunk to attract some of the marine life back.
These numerous cubes, wrecks, reef balls, statues and even a scooter have helped the return of marine life. Artificial reefs in popular day trip destinations have expanded over the recent years and have become an attraction for scuba divers. They may not look as pretty as a coral reef but they offer shelter to many species.
The cubes of Bay 1
In addition to promoting coral growth and attracting marine life, artificial reefs help the ecosystem. They allow some areas to “take a break” as divers have more things to explore. And places like Bay 1 of Koh Racha Yai, as you can see in the pictures, offer an underwater maze of structures to discover.
Coral has started to colonise the structures. We used to use them for Peak Performance Buoyancy training but now we don’t encourage divers to swim through. The delicate corals and marine life can be easily damaged and so can but look but stay clear.
The maze of cubes at Racha Yai is now home to rich marine life; barracudas, batfishes, scorpionfishes, lionfishes, stonefishes, frogfishes, pufferfishes, boxfishes, filefishes, pipefishes, damsels, gobies, moray eels, crabs, shrimps, nudibranchs, and so much more… The structure is even breeding ground for some species and if you look carefully you may find eggs!
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