Ocean scientists in Newfoundland and Labrador are using man-made reef balls to restore a barren area of Placentia Bay's Fox Harbour that was previously damaged by dredging activities. The project, initiated a year ago with the installation of 285 cement structures, has already seen significant marine life growth, including lobsters finding homes within the nooks and crannies of these artificial habitats. The reef balls, designed to foster algae growth and support marine ecosystems through biofouling, are expected to have a lifespan of 500 years and are part of an ongoing effort to revitalize damaged ocean environments.
Written by the local model on 2026-09-14,
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Story summary
Mark Santos, a fisheries technologist at the Marine Institute's Centre for Sustainable Aquatic Resources in Newfoundland and Labrador, is leading an initiative to revitalize a depleted ecosystem in Placentia Bay. A year ago, his team deployed 285 cement reef balls into the bay. These man-made structures are designed with numerous nooks and crannies and made from specialized cement that encourages biofouling, fostering algae growth and marine life development.
Historically, only deep-sea divers could see the ocean floor, but recent underwater camera footage has revealed barren, grey areas indicative of damaged ecosystems. The reef balls aim to reverse this trend by providing habitats for various marine species, thereby transforming what was once an "ocean desert" into a thriving ecosystem.
Written for “Reef Restoration Off Newfoundland” on 2026-09-14,
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Reef balls are turning an ocean desert into a thriving ecosystem in N.L.’s Placentia Bay
Man-made reef balls are full of nooks and crannies, made from special cement
For millennia, seeing the bottom of the ocean floor was reserved for deepsea divers.
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seeing → turn → divers
But that, much like the ocean itself, has changed.
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that → change → ocean
Through an array of cameras, the majesty of the deepsea floor has been brought to life on screens — but so has the polar opposite of a thriving seabed: barren, grey dead zones.
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opposite → bring → seabed
It’s a testament to the damage caused to marine ecosystems.
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It → ’ → ecosystems
But a team of ocean scientists in Newfoundland and Labrador are turning one ocean dead zone into a thriving marine ecosystem.
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team → turn → ecosystem
“This is really cool because we get to fix a part of the ocean,” Mark Santos, a fisheries technologist with the Marine Institute's Centre for Sustainable Aquatic Resources.
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Santos → get → Resources
A year ago, Santos and a team at The Launch, Marine Institute’s coastal state-of-art lab in Holyrood, launched 285 cement reef balls into the bay.
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Santos → launch → bay
The structures are full of nooks and crannies and made from a type of cement that allows for biofouling, a natural process that invites algae growth working with sunbeams to photosynthesize marine snow into life.
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that → make → life
The Marine Institute partnered with a major oil company and the government to restore a seafloor zone in Placentia Bay’s Fox Harbour, which is adjacent to a dredging site.
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which → partner → site
“It was barren,” said Santos, who compared the area to a desert.
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who → say → desert
“It was a mega project in the area, they had to remove some of the sediment in the area and this is a remediation project, we had an opportunity to rebuild.
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we → have → opportunity
The team placed an underwater camera in the area to monitor the balls and watched as the cement became carpeted in algae and slowly, more and more marine life settled into the structures to call them home.
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life → place → them
“If you look at the video you’ll see lobsters sticking out of these little slots and their little claws sticking out,” he said.
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he → look → slots
Through an underwater camera, the artificial marine habitat can be watched through SmartAtlantic.ca.
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habitat → watch → SmartAtlantic.ca
“We actually get to show that to everybody, to say look, we are doing something good.
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we → get → something
There's a new habitat growing here,” said Bethany Randell, a project engineer with the Marine Institute's Centre for Applied Ocean Technology.
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Randell → be → Technology
Randell added this is what she got into the ocean science business for, a chance to fix some of the damaged ocean.
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she → add → ocean
“If we just step away for a minute, nature will find a way.”
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nature → step → way
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sightings → embark → researcher
Since the reef balls were put into place in the bay, Santos said lobsters have migrated there because the layered balls provide an excellent home for the burrowing crustaceans.
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balls → put → crustaceans
The reef balls have a predicted lifespan of 500 years, and while this project has a nine-year span, Santos said he plans to keep the camera down there as long as possible.
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he → have → camera
“Maybe it would be great to put them in other places too,” added Randell, who has big conservation ideas and started off wanting to be a marine biologist.
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who → put → ideas
Happy to see her ocean saving dreams reflected in this project, like Santos she hopes to keep the balls rolling.
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balls → see → Santos
