A landmark dive operation for twenty years at Tea Table Key, Mike Goldberg, founder and owner of Key Dives, has recently relocated to Strahl Plaza, bayside at Mile Marker 86 on Plantation Key. Their 42 foot Newton dive vessel is docked right behind the shop on a canal that gives immediate access to Snake Creek and some of the best ocean diving in the world. Mike Goldberg, Mike Ryan Key Dives long time Operations Manager, continue their commitment to ocean conservation, working closely with scientists attached to I.Care (Island Coral And Restoration Education) a non-profit created by Dr. Kylie Smith and Mike Goldberg. I.Care’s new, spacious education center adjoins Key Dives.
To gauge success of I.Care’s work in coral restoration, Mike Goldberg says, “Look at the coral we put down. Of about 300 grooved brain coral out-plants at Captain Arno’s reef, one of I.Care’s restoration sites, we have close to 100% survival. We put those down about two years ago. These corals are only about the size of a half-dollar now, they grow slowly, in ten years they’ll be the size of a flapjack. That’s incredibly encouraging.” It is more than encouraging, it is progress by caring dedication and teamwork of volunteers, staff, interns, donors, sponsors and scientists. It is proof positive that people can make a vast difference for ocean conservation.
Stony corals were in great decline prompting researchers to state that live coral coverage in the keys is only 5%. That compared to live coral coverage of 90% a scant seventy years ago. “Our overall survival rate since we began five years ago, inclusive of the 2023 mass bleaching event, is 43%,” Mike Goldberg added.
That the owner of a dive operation joined with scientific experts like Dr. Kylie Smith and Dr. Bobbie Renfro, a sponge researcher, to restore offshore reefs with living coral and sponges is testimony to what private enterprise can accomplish when members of the community and generous private donors support the cause of ocean conservation. While government grants have helped, I.Care’s base for education and logistic support for interns, fuel, logistics and educational programs has come from the private sector. Key Dives donates 2% of profit back to I.Care and has organized other dive operations to do the same. This amidst the difficulty of moving an entire dive operation with large, heavy compressors, tanks and inventory into their new premises.
“Look at these pictures,” Mike Ryan said, pulling out his phone. “There was nothing here. Mike gave me and the contractor a free hand to partition off the space, create the compressor room, the I.Care education center and selling floor retail installation,” Mike Ryan explained. Looking at the pictures of an absolutely empty space that required ceilings, light fixtures as well as walls and partitions with displays and conference areas, the new home of Key Dives and I.Care is an extraordinary accomplishment.
There is plenty of free parking at Strahl Plaza, a great improvement over the previous location. Easy access to ‘Giant Stride’ for divers is convenient.
Too often divers are subjected to dive boats that are not kept up either mechanically or physically. Key Dives Captain Bradley Williams is meticulous. That says it all. Divers aboard receive concierge service or can handle their own gear if they so desire. Dives are guided by Key Dives instructors and divemasters. For those wishing to participate, I.Care offers seminars about coral and sponge restoration in their conference room with hands on demonstrations and explanations. Divers then board ‘Giant Stride’ and head out on reefs designated under permit for restoration. Under close supervision of scientists, volunteer divers not only enjoy hands-on experience, they come away with the satisfaction of helping to restore once pristine reefs.
During relocation Key Dives installed a new Coltri 28 cfm compressor along with their Bauer 18 cfm in a soundproofed room. “We put in two layers of dry wall and between them a layer of sound studio vinyl to contain noise. With the door closed we can run the compressors and they are not heard in the store. We have to keep temperature below 135 degrees and do that with these fans,” Mike Ryan explained. While Key Dives fills Nitrox mixed gas tanks in the shop, air tanks on ‘Giant Stride’ are filled with long ‘whips’ or high pressure hoses from the compressor without having to bring the tanks into the shop itself to be filled.
Coral and sponges are grown by I.Care on ‘trees’ off a reef called The Maze. This ocean grown coral includes staghorn and brain corals as well as three species of sponges. Dr. Renfro calls sponges the ‘glue of the reef,’ integral to healthy reef ecology interspersed with out planted coral.
“Corals we are out planting now survived 2023. They are the most resistant and resilient corals we know of today. Sponges once decimated by past hurricanes, are integral to the reef. We’re learning more and more as we observe sponges living with reef corals in the same location, one benefits the other. Dr. Bobbie Renfro alludes to the fact that a single tennis ball size sponge filters 1.5 gallons of water a minute. This filtering creates cleaner water. The more sponges on the reefs the more healthy our corals will be,” Mike Goldberg said.
For those wanting more information or to participate in Key Dives operations and I.Care projects visit www.keydives.com or call 305-664-2211 and I.Care at www.icareaboutcoral.org.
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