Deployment of Coral Reef Arks will offer new dive sites for residents and tourists and will bring awareness to projects the community is actively engaging in to restore marine resources. A form on the Coral Reef Arks website will allow "citizen science" divers to submit photos and comments regarding the status of Coral Arks and the health of the surrounding reefs, improving our own monitoring and mitigation efforts.
ARMS units used to harvest biodiversity for this project will be constructed from limestone tile sourced locally on Caribbean islands. Limestone tiles provide a cryptic environment made from the same materials as hardbottom substrates found on coral reefs and are thus an appealing option for ARMS that are constructed on carbonate reef islands and deployed in the sea in perpetuity. Limestone ARMS can be uniquely modified by etching, sand-blasting, or decorating the top tile, allowing residents to design and "adopt" their own ARMS unit that will be deployed to collect coral reef biodiversity and later moved to a Coral Ark.
Enabling community contribution in this way will hopefully instill a sense of ownership and pride for this and other restoration efforts taking place in the surrounding area. ARMS units can also be deployed on the seafloor in artistic configurations, creating "sculpture gardens" that will draw divers and tourists alike.
