On The Water: 'Wiffle Balls' Could Help Save The LI Sound Shore

LONG ISLAND SOUND, NY — A unique way to protect vulnerable shoreline that is having success around the globe will be coming to the Sound Shore.

You may have caught a glimpse of "hemispheric concrete artificial reefs" on your favorite UK copper show or on a Caribbean or west coast vacation, but the technology could soon be commonplace closer to home. Scientific American reports that the artificial reefs are a perfect fit for the Long Island Sound coastline.

Westchester County plans to deploy the reef balls as part of the Long Island Sound “living shoreline” project in Rye, according to the magazine. Storms and rising seawaters in the tidal area are threatening the shoreline, including Playland amusement park and the Edith G. Read Wildlife Sanctuary.

More than three dozen reef balls, that weigh approximately 2 tons each, are expected to begin protecting the coast next year at a cost of nearly $1.5 million. The reef balls will be visible above the water at low tide and disappear under the waterline during high tide.

The reef balls are designed to break waves before they reach the shore, reducing wave heights by half and lessening wave energy, helping to protect vulnerable shorelines.

But dampening the energy of the sea is only one of the benefits of installing the artificial reef structures.

It is the reef balls' attractiveness to sea life and ocean plants that allows the buffers to be so effective.

"Like living reefs, reef balls create a buffer to wave activity, including boat wake action, which can cause millions of dollars in damage to docks and boats in the water," Connecticut College Biology Professor Maria Rosa explained in a release describing a similar project in New London. "This living shoreline has the potential to be an incredible resource for student and faculty research."

The technology, innovated by the nonprofit Reef Ball Foundation, uses marine-friendly, pH-balanced microsilica concrete that is outfitted with inflatable buoys and tethers to create a hollowed center and empty spaces for water and marine life to pass through, according to the recently released report from the school. Sand is used to create a natural floor, and sugar water is sprayed on the mold, buoys and balls to give the concrete a rough texture ideal for barnacles.

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