Florida’s Coastal Corridor has reached a major milestone with the deployment of its first artificial reef.
Approximately 14 nautical miles west of Naples, 43 reef modules now create nearly 1.7 acres of new marine habitat within Collier County’s Jackson Fish Camp artificial reef area. Named the Lenny Reina Memorial Reef, the project honors the generosity of Lenny Reina, a Naples attorney for more than 40 years.
At the center of the new reef complex is a 15-foot-tall “Super Reef” featuring an engraved granite plaque honoring Lenny. Six additional Super Reefs and 36 eight-foot reef modules extend across the seafloor, creating a series of connected patches of habitat.
The structures are designed to do more than give fish something to swim around. Limestone embedded in the concrete creates surfaces where barnacles, oysters, sponges, corals, and other marine life can grow. Inside the larger modules, layers of ledges and openings create additional hiding places for smaller marine organisms.
Together, these features add new habitat to an area where natural reefs, limestone hardbottom, and seagrass are absent. The reef can provide shelter and nursery habitat for young marine life, foraging areas for adult fish, and new recreational opportunities for anglers and divers.
The Lenny Reina Memorial Reef is the first artificial reef deployment for Florida’s Coastal Corridor, a statewide effort led by our foundation in collaboration with the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission to create and enhance marine habitat along Florida’s coast.
Lenny’s generous gift has created a lasting legacy beneath the waves and helped bring the vision for Florida’s Coastal Corridor to life.
Learn more about Florida’s Coastal Corridor and how we’re building a healthier future for Florida’s marine habitats, fish, and coastal communities.
