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Follow on Google News | Art as Reef Project Kicks-Off with Benefit Dinner in Asbury ParkThe Art As Reef project, in partnership with the Blue Ocean Institute, is fabricating a series of sculptural pieces to be deployed onto the ocean floor. The first piece is a 40 foot long, anatomically correct, representation of a horseshoe crab.
By: Art as Reef The Art As Reef project, in partnership with the Blue Ocean Institute, is fabricating a series of sculptural pieces to be deployed onto the ocean floor. The first piece is a 40 foot long, anatomically correct, representation of a horseshoe crab. The sculpture will “live” on the bottom of the sea for hundreds or even thousands of years and act as an artificial reef. It will attract fish, crustaceans, and encrusting organisms. The sculpture will be sunk of the coast of New Jersey, adding to the fifteen already established reef systems. Artificial reefs provide vertical structure in areas that are generally bare, which reduces the fishing pressure in popular areas and offer refuge for juvenile fishes and invertebrates. The surface of the structure also provides an attachment surface for filter feeders such as blue mussels. “As an art project, the horseshoe crab sculpture will help to shine a light on some critical ocean issues and serve as an educational vehicle used to promote the stewardship of our near-shore environment,” The horseshoe crab was chosen because it is a perfect shape for a reef, containing a large area of protected habitat beneath and a shape that is designed by nature to withstand ocean currents and waves. The piece represents the artist’s belief that the oceans are a fragile place and that if a “living fossil” like the horseshoe crab, having thus survived longer than practically anything else on earth, is in trouble then it does not bode well for the sea as a whole. Christopher Wojcik began his career as a biologist for National Marine Fisheries Service in the Bering Sea and Gulf of Alaska. After earning an M.S. in Biological Oceanography, Chris learned exhibit design and construction. He has traveled the world documenting nature and building scenery, animal habitat, and interpretive graphics media for natural history museums and zoological institutions. Chris produced, directed and was the primary camera operator for the Discovery Channel series, “Earth Grooves”, in collaboration with composer, Eric Hemion. He has spent many hundreds of days at sea in some of the earth’s cruelest conditions. His work extends from print media, digital video, broadcast television and lives on in the halls of countess public educational institutions around the world. He was the host of the “Shark Cam” for the Discovery Channel’s Shark Week! and recently hosted events for the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra’s Winter Festival, “Water.” Bill Cleary owner of two restaurants at the Jersey Shore, Shipwreck Grill in Brielle and Shipwreck Point in Point Pleasant Beach, is a co-sponsor of the Art as Reef project. “Chris Wojcik and I share a love for SCUBA diving and the ocean. I’m proud to support the Art as Reef project.” In addition to financial support of the project, Cleary is donating the space to construct the horseshoe crab reef before it is sunk in the ocean, as well as salvage equipment and expertise to assist in deploying the reef, and adding sonar imagery to the video produced for the project. The fundraising dinner for the Art as Reef project begins at 7pm on Friday, May 20 at the Dauphin Grille which is located inside the Berkeley Hotel at 1401 Ocean Avenue in Asbury Park. End
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