A 60-foot barge with a motor grader was deployed Monday, May 5, to create the new Buddy Morgan Reef approximately 17 miles southeast of Destin Pass.

• The reef, placed at a depth of 115 feet, was donated by Morgan Marine, a local marine contractor who approached the Okaloosa Natural Resources Team about repurposing the equipment that no longer served their original purpose.

“These types of projects are a great opportunity to repurpose materials that otherwise would become scrap,” said Mike Norberg, Okaloosa County Coastal Resource Manager.

Before deployment, crews removed all environmentally incompatible materials from the road grader, including rubber hoses, plastics, oil, fuel, grease, and other non-metal components. The grader was then welded to the barge for stability.

• The Buddy Morgan Reef joins the Barnacle Reef Complex, which includes nearby pre-fabricated reef modules deployed in April 2006.

This isn’t Morgan Marine’s first contribution to local artificial reefs. The company previously donated a 64-foot steel tugboat named the M/V MISS JOANN, which is now part of an area known as The Boat Yard. Morgan Marine has also been the deployment contractor in numerous other vessels for the county, and handles most of the county’s derelict vessel removals.

Norberg said these donations provide “a low-cost opportunity to increase fishing and diving activities in Destin-Fort Walton Beach while also providing habitat for all sorts of marine life.”

Coordinates: 30° 09.007’N 86° 18.876’W. Coordinates for all of Destin-Fort Walton Beach’s public artificial reefs can be downloaded for free here.