US Virgin Islands to build artificial reef to bolster coastal defense against future storms
Fox News
The U.S. Virgin Islands is set to construct its first artificial reef near the coast of St. Thomas to enhance coastal protection and resilience against future storms.
The project will be funded by more than $760,000 in federal money awarded to the University of the Virgin Islands after hurricanes Irma and Maria pounded the U.S. territory in 2017.
Jean-Pierre L. Oriol, the department's commissioner, said university officials are choosing the strongest specimens from more than a dozen types of coral in nurseries to attach to the artificial reef. He said officials are working with the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution in Massachusetts to create an environmentally sensitive design.
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