Divers want marine sanctuary in waters around Blue Heron Boulevard bridge

Scuba divers are asking Palm Beach County to begin the process of designating the waters around the Blue Heron Boulevard bridge and Phil Foster Park as a marine sanctuary.

The move is intended to stop the collection of tropical fish for aquariums.

County Commissioner Karen Marcus said divers approached her to request the sanctuary designation, which the Florida Fish & Wildlife Conservation Commission would have to approve.

She was surprised to learn that the waters around the park and the bridge have become an internationally recognized hot spot for divers and underwater photographers.

“This is a beautiful place, and I think biologically it’s very important,” said George Burgess, a zoologist who studies fish and the director of the Florida Program for Shark Research at the University of Florida. “It’s a treasure.”

Burgess and Lad Akins, of the Key Largo-based Reef Environmental Education Foundation, say many rare species inhabit the area, including sea horses, frogfish, chain pipefish, striped croakers and pipehorses, which look like a cross between a sea horse and a pipefish.

The REEF database lists 289 fish species reported from the Blue Heron bridge area.

Underwater photographer Suzan Meldonian produced a book called “Under the Bridge: The Creatures of a Coastal Inlet,” featuring more than 500 images of fish and other marine life found in the waters around the bridge and park.

“This is a real national treasure, certainly a Palm Beach County treasure, that needs to be protected,” said Skip Commagere, owner of three dive shops and a member of the county’s Artificial Reef and Estuarine Enhancement Committee. “Just Google ‘Blue Heron Boulevard bridge’ and look what pops up for one little diving location.”

Concrete pilings and submerged rubbish around the park have become encrusted with marine organisms, creating an artificial reef that boosts the biodiversity of the area, Burgess said. Because the park and bridge are close to the Lake Worth Inlet, larvae swept into the area with the incoming tide can settle and grow there.

The area’s clear, sheltered waters also make the park popular with dive instructors, who bring students from throughout the Southeast to hold check-out dives there, Commagere said.

A resolution supporting the sanctuary designation is expected to come before county commissioners for approval, probably this spring, said Eric Call, director of Palm Beach County‘s Parks and Recreation Department. Call said the plan is to make the area off limits to those who want to collect fish and other marine life for aquariums.

Some divers have discussed making the Little Blue Heron Bridge, which is just east of the taller bridge, off limits to fishing. But Call said fishing restrictions are not proposed.

“I don’t want to take away any recreational opportunities,” Call said.

If commissioners approve a resolution recommending the marine sanctuary to the FWC, it would likely take the agency six months to a year to consider the designation, said Lee Schlesinger, a spokesman for the FWC’s Division of Marine Fisheries Management.

SOURCE: SunSentinel

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