Here in the Town of Lauderdale-By-The-Sea (LBTS for short), we’re committed to supporting our environment, especially our precious marine ecosystems. In fact, we have a living coral reef just off our shoreline that is home to tropical fish, corals, barrel sponges, sea fans, spiny lobster, and more.
Protecting these diverse habitats is a big task, and we’re thankful for our partners who help with ongoing conservation efforts. Recently, we hosted a coral reef monitoring event coordinated by FORCE BLUE, and the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, with sponsors Pepsi Stronger Together, NAUI, Keep Florida Beautiful, and the Professional Fighters League
The dive in LBTS was part of a summer-long Pepsi Stronger Together series of four marine conservation initiatives in coastal communities around Florida. The final event will be held in Tampa, just in time for the start of the NFL season to coincide with ForceBlue’s 100 yards event held around the Superbowl last year.
Pictured Left to Right from FORCE BLUE: Keith Sahm, COO, Co-Founder; Steve “Gonzo” Gonzalez, Special Projects / Event Coordinator; and Jim Ritterhoff, Executive Director, Co-Founder
Miami Dolphins wide receiver Mack Hollins
Our coral reefs were in good hands with this crew. FORCE BLUE is a non-profit organization that provides “mission therapy” for former special ops members of the military by involving them in conservation efforts to preserve and protect
marine environments. 25 former special ops divers, along with other volunteer divers, monitored the coral reefs off El Prado Park and recovered some debris littering the ocean floor while monitoring. Their mission was to collect data on the health of the near-shore reefs. Miami Dolphins wide receiver Mack Hollins even got in on the action, during his monitoring dive by recovering part of a lounge chair with the help of another diver.
You may not know this, but coral reefs are the most biologically diverse marine eco-systems on earth, and we’re grateful to all who joined in the day to help monitor our underwater eco systems from the impacts of global stressors.
Wondering what other conservation efforts are being made by Town? Check out this series on the Town’s reef and sea 
oats restoration programs, sea turtle nesting season, as well as our bee apiary and butterfly garden at Town Hall. We invite everyone to enjoy the natural wildlife (no wildlife off shore) off our shoreline, or stop by the garden Town Hall during an afternoon stroll. Don’t forget to snap a picture or two and tag us @discoverlbts on Facebook and Instagram using the hashtags #DiscoverLBTS and #LoveLBTS for a chance to be featured on the Town’s feeds.
And relax… our coral reefs are being monitored by the best of the best!
Watch FORCE BLUE help conserve our coral reefs:
