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PEP Reef is a highly successful shallow (25 ft.) artificial reef. Varied and numerous fish species can be observed in and around the reef, and within 3 years of deployment, multiple species of hard corals and gorgonians began to encrust the sloping flat surfaces of the modules. It can often be difficult to dive because due to its shallow depths, visibility can often be poor when sediments are stirred up.

Reef Name – PEP Reef
Reef Type – 228 concrete modules (5,700 tons) and 2,000 tons limerock boulders
Permit Site – Palm Beach 4
Date Deployed – August 1995
Depth (ft) – 25 ft.
Unique Aspects – PEP Reef attracts an unusual assemblage of fish; as many as 86 species have been counted on one dive. Unusual species include guitarfish, gulf and peacock flounder, yellowmouth grouper, sailfin blenny.
Latitude – 26 degrees 40.673 N
Longitude – 80 degrees 01.812 W

TABLE OF CONTENTS:

• Location
• Design and Materials
• Monitoring
• Fish
• Benthics
• Map

Location:
If you traveled due east on Southern Blvd. and continued out into the ocean about 600 yds, the PEP Reef site would be just slightly north of you in about 25 ft. of water. The north end of the reef is located at 26 degrees 40.737 N / 80 degrees 01.758 W and the south end of the limerock portion of the reef is located at 26 degrees 40.597 N / 80 degrees 01.826 W.

Design and Materials:
PEP Reef was originally built in the summer 1995 by placement of 228 concrete modules (5,700 tons of concrete) in 25 ft. of water offshore from Palm Beach. The PEP modules were placed immediately north of the southernmost trio of pyramid modules that had been deployed in the summer 1992.

"PEP" stands for "Prefabricated Erosion Prevention", and these modules were originally designed and placed offshore as part of the Town of Palm Beaches' beach protection project. They were found to not perform as anticipated and so were removed from their original location and donated to the County to be used as an artificial reef.

Each module is approximately 9 x 12 x 6 ft. and weighs about 25 tons. The modules were positioned one to two to three modules high in a more or less north-south random linear arrangement.

The 3 pyramids immediately south of the PEP modules were in place from an earlier deployment that was part of a cooperative study with the University of Miami scientists. The 5½ ft. tall pyramid modules are four-sided, truncated and measure 9 x 9 ft at the base and 4 x 4 ft. at the top. They weighed 8.5 to 13.5 tons, depending upon the amount of material added to create internal complexity as part of the study. The PEP modules were the ones that were filled with rock. There were originally twelve modules deployed in groups of three.

In June 1997, twelve reef balls constructed by 12 Spanish River High School students were added to PEP Reef while the students looked on from a nearby dive boat. The reef balls measured 3 to 4 ft. in height. Afterwards, the students who were certified dove PEP Reef to observe their reef balls.

In 1999, further enhancements were added to PEP Reef in the form of 2,000 tons of limerock boulders placed on filter fabric at the south end near the 3 pyramids.

This reef consists of native limerock boulders ranging from 0.25 to 2.5 tons each with at least 50% of the individual rocks weighing 1 ton or more. The rock enhancement was partially funded by FDEP's Marine Resources Conservation Trust Grant.

Monitoring:
Monitoring on artificial reefs consists of stationary and roving fish counts, surveys of the benthic invertebrates encrusting the structures, mapping with a GPS unit, and photo and videography documentation. PEP Reef has been monitored by the Palm Beach County Reef Research Team since April 1997.

Fish:
The species list for PEP Reef includes 41 families and 169 species of fish. On one dive, 86 species of fish were counted, showing that PEP Reef is attractive to a wide variety of fish species. Interesting observations include: guitarfish, an 8 ft. goliath grouper, rosy and sailfin blennies, and a bandtail searobin. PEP Reef remains an interesting reef to see a variety of fish, but it is often difficult to dive because of low visibility conditions.

For a complete list of fish observed at PEP Reef, go to R.E.E.F's database at http://www.reef.org/data/twa/geogform.htm [External Link] and enter 33010086 for the site.

Benthics:
After deployment, the modules quickly were encrusted with a variety of alga, hydroids, sponges and tunicates, and within 3 years, hard coral and gorgonians began to encrust the sloping flat surfaces of the modules. Six species of hard coral and 9 species of gorgonians have been documented on PEP Reef, making this a highly successful artificial reef.

• Map
  Provided by Reef Research Team

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