English Rose Hotels

MARINE LIFE TO BE ENRICHED BY ARTIFICIAL SURF REEF

Marine life in Bournemouth is set to be enriched by Europe’s first artificial surf reef, construction of which began today.

Guests staying at hotels in Bournemouth can see the construction of the new surf reef, one of only four in the world, has been eagerly anticipated by the hordes of visitors to Bournemouth hotels as well as surfers who descend on the stretch of sandy coastline at the merest hint of a swell.

Dr Kerry Black, the designer of the reef at Boscombe beach, told the Times Online the Bournemouth coastline will also benefit, as the reef will suck power out of waves before they hit the beach. Coastal erosion is a significant problem in the area.

Though construction of the £2.68 million structure hit delays over the concerns of local fishermen, marine ecologists from Bournemouth University, who have been working on the project, say fears of an adverse impact on fish stocks are unfounded.

Some environmentalists cautioned that certain species must be carefully protected during the build, which is expected to take around three months.

“There are a range of inshore marine species which could be affected,” Thomas Bell, coastal pollution officer at the Marine Conservation Society, told the Times Online. “These are species which are notably in need of protection measures and include the zostera sea grass beds, brittle stars, the horse mussel Modiolus and the pink seafan.”

Developers insist that the method of construction, which avoids dredging, is environmentally sensitive.

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