The next phase of the Eagle Reef will be announced in June 2023!
The next phase of the Eagle Reef will be announced in June 2023!
The project has been very successful and has reached 175 reefs. We will be having a press conference in June to announce the next phase of the project. If you would like to be on a waiting list, please fill out the form below. We will not take any deposits for the waitlist.
This was my Eagle Project for BSA troop 147. I am close to announcing the hand-off of the project to local non-profits. Stay tuned!
We will soon announce the next phase on the 1,000 reef challenge. This challenge will include everyone who enjoys and/or uses our water resources. Local industry, businesses, governments and citizens will help deploy another 825 reefs. This will filter 11 billion gallons of water annually and help grow 500,000 fish and crabs. I hope you will help us in this next phase.
Unseeded Reefs installed last year
A heron hunts from one of the reefs we installed.
The Eagle Reef is the Boy Scout eagle project for John Shell of Troop 147 in Mobile Alabama. The initial goal is to deploy 100 of the 2’x2’x3’ mini reefs across coastal Alabama. After six months, each reef is loaded with filter feeders (oysters, barnacles, etc.), and it will filter and clean 11,000,000 gallons of water per year and attracts fish to your wharf.
It will also provide habitat to grow 500 fish and crabs annually. Each reef comes preassembled and is tied between four pilings under a dock or wharf. It floats up and down with the tide. Deploying 100 reefs will filter just under 1.1 billion gallons of water and grow 50,000 fish and crabs annually.
You can donate to have a reef deployed on the coast and filter 11 million gallons of water and grow 500 fish and crabs annually. Protect our resources from your couch!
The reefs will be deployed across coastal Alabama. Including Dog River, Fowl River, Dauphin Island, Orange Beach and Perdido Bay. The reefs thrive anywhere south of Fairhope and will grow and nurture sea life. They are especially effective for filtering water in areas with limited tidal flow such as the canals of Ono Island, Dauphin Island and Orange Beach, but they grow and attract fish everywhere. The stars on the map are examples and not the only places that the reefs can go. The reefs can go under any wharf or dock.
The reefs tie between four pilings and float up and down with the tide.
Each reef is like a nursery and supports 500 new fish and crabs annually.
Donate, get a reef for yourself and sign up as a reef captain and recruit other locations
Help organize delivering and/or deploying/installing the Eagle Reefs
Don't have a place to put a reef but want to help. Donate and we'll take care of the rest!
I have recently completed all the badges required by the Boy Scouts to become an Eagle Scout. The only thing left for me to complete is my eagle project. I have worked extremely hard over the last several years and am excited to be this close. I am asking you to help me achieve this goal.
I thought about many different things when evaluating what to do for my project. The main criteria that I set is that it needs to make a significant impact. Living in Mobile, I really love being on the water and fishing. We all can do a better job of taking care of our bay and rivers, and I wanted to do something that would help to both clean our water and improve the fish and crab population. Everyone wins if we achieve this goal. With all that in consideration, I decided to create a reef program for the Alabama coastal communities.
I researched and found a biologist in South Florida that developed a mini reef that floats and is tied under your wharf. It is simple to assemble and begins growing sea life immediately. Once the reef is loaded with oysters, barnacles, and other filter feeders (typically six months), it will filter an average of 30,000 gallons of water a day. This equates to 11 million gallons a year cleaned for just one reef. Additionally, each mini reef acts as a nursery and grows 200 fish and 300 crabs per year.
My goal is to raise $30,000 for this project. This will allow me to deploy 100 of these mini reefs across Mobile and Perdido Bays. Deploying 100 of these mini reefs will annually clean 1 billion gallons of water and grow 20,000 fish and 30,000 crabs. The goal is to not stop at 100. I plan to build a website where others can go to learn about the mini reefs and order one for their wharfs. Additionally, I plan to have “reef captains” located in various areas (Fowl River, Dog River, Point Clear, Dauphin Island, Ono Island, Orange Beach, etc.). Each of these captains will identify 10-20 wharfs and piers in their area to install the reefs. As fish begin congregating on the reefs at their wharfs, their neighbors will want one of their own.
This project has received the blessing of Chris Blankenship, Alabama’s Commissioner of Conservation, Colonel Scott Bannon, Director of Marine resources and Dr. Sean Powers, South Alabama’s Chair of Marine Resources and Chief of the Dauphin Island Sea Lab. Dr. Powers plans to put several reefs at the DI Sea Lab to study and report on their results. This will help to expand the program too.
I am really excited about this project and the opportunity to make a positive impact on the bays that we love so much. Filtering and cleaning 1 billion gallons per year is hard to imagine. By the time I graduate college, these 100 reefs will have cleaned 6 billion gallons and grow 300,000 fish and crabs. Imagine when the word catches on, and we have 1,000 of these deployed.
The reefs cost $437 retails and we are offering them at $300 each.
I thank you in advance for your support.
John Shell
Enter your name, address where the reef will be installed, phone number, email address and we will reach out to you!