You can fool mother nature: You can fool Mother Nature
By Cherie Jacobs Lane
STAFF WRITER
Todd Barber is banking on something fishy happening.
Well, actually, many things fishy.
Barber, 34, is president of
Reef Ball Development, a
young company that has
created an unusual object to
be used under water as an
artificial reef. What started out
as an environmental hobby
has grown into a business that
has attracted customers from
around the world.
Reef balls are dome-shaped
concrete blobs, with Swiss
cheese-like holes.
The concrete's uneven surfaces encourage the growth of algae, barnacles
and coral. The holes allow fish to congregate and hide - and escape bigger
fish.
``What we want to do is mimic Mother Nature,'' Barber said.
About 1,000 of Barber's reef
balls are in the waters off
Manatee, Sarasota and
Charlotte counties. Another
1,000 will be added this year.
About 40,000 reef balls are
under eight oceans, seas or
gulfs around the world.
Barber, an avid scuba diver
since he was 15, came up with
the idea for reef balls several
years ago because he wanted to dive near something more realisticlooking
than what was available. Often artificial reefs are old train cars,
sunken ships or crumbled bridges.
``You see these, basically, trash heaps that you're diving on,'' he said......
