A new Miami Beach underwater art installation aims to help coral thrive

MIAMI BEACH, Fla. — South Beach has long been known for its Art Deco pastels and neon nightlife. But it’s also home to something else: a bustling coral reef just hundreds of feet offshore.

Soon, that natural reef is expected to be along the path of a roughly 7-mile public art installation, called The Reefline, which will be part sculpture park and part snorkeling trail celebrating and supporting marine life.

“Mother Nature is the ultimate artist,” said Reefline founder and artistic director Ximena Caminos. “What we’re doing is giving nature and amplifying that marine habitat, because it’s needed.”

Corals are struggling worldwide; The Reefline seeks to help them flourish in South Florida, starting with its Phase 1 rollout this year when a series of concrete cars will be submerged, creating a traffic jam.

“How do we turn doomsday into optimism?” Caminos said.

Those sculptures won’t just drive conversation. The Reefline says they’ll give fish shelter; fish will help corals thrive. According to organizers, the new marine communities will provide an added benefit: preventing beachfront erosion.

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Artificial reefs aren’t a new concept. But The Reefline’s coral expert, Colin Foord, said the new project goes further by rescuing dislodged, climate-resilient corals whose clones will be locked on to the project’s planned hybrid reef. 

“We are accelerating the development of a fully healthy coral reef by decades by putting out small pieces of coral that we are growing here in the lab,” Foord said in a Miami lab housing submerged corals.

“When you put the mask on and you get into the water, it’s like time slows down,” he said. 

“I think that if more people have that type of opportunity, then that helps change public perception about the need to protect the environment.”