ABOUT 200 YARDS OFFSHORE OF NORTH Miami Beach, an underwater experiment is underway. An artificial reef called the Sea Hive will test how a blend of synthetic and natural defenses can help protect some of the nation’s most valuable waterfront property against the battering waves of tropical storms.
The Sea Hive is a stacked pyramid of 12-foot-long hexagonal concrete tubes submerged in about 30 feet of water. In cross-section they resemble the pattern of a beehive—thus the name—and openings along the sides allow water and wave energy to enter.
“Because of their perforated nature they do a really good job of mitigating wave height and wave energy,” University of Miami Associate Professor of Marine Biology Diego Lirman told. Lirman is part of a team of engineers, biologists and social scientists developing the coastal defense project that mixes the “gray” of concrete and the “green” of nature-based solutions—in this case, corals.
