The ADIDAS Parley, Run for the Oceans 3D printed concrete reef is a towering presence within the Project REEFrame Octopus Garden Site, acting as an interesting contrast to the other rebar style artificial reefs.
This is the tallest artificial reef on the Octopus Gardens site, which in turn means that its top surface is the shallowest point of all the structures; it will be interesting to observe how marine life reacts to this during the high temperatures of the summer months.
As you can see from the photographs, there is currently no manually attached coral on the structure, as we want to see if the substrate will promote natural coral recruitment. It is our intention in 2023 to attach some large mature corals to the structure when they become available.
The surface is populated with algal growth and Black Phallusia tunicates at present. The Phalussia tunicates potentially date from the time period when the structure was placed, they could have been spawning or perhaps they could just dominate during the early colonisation of structures before appropriate predation to reduce their numbers occurs. The predators of these tunicates are exclusively Angel fish, which won’t begin to populate the area until coral becomes more dominant.
Two spiny lobsters have taken up residence in the higher folds of the structure and with a little luck they are a breeding pair for the future, although at this point, they are definitely still juveniles.
A juvenile male green turtle is also commonly found on the structure taking a well-earned nap.