Artificial “Reef Balls” Will Help Protect Stratford Shoreline

High-intensity storms such as Superstorm Sandy threaten to cut through the narrowest part of Stratford Point, but scientists at Sacred Heart University and officials with Connecticut Audubon Society think they may have found a way to save the shoreline.

Next spring, they hope to install concrete domes called "reef balls" as part of a $100,000 project.

"As the waves come in from the storms," said Jennifer Mattei, a professor of biology and director of the Sacred Heart Professional Science Master's program in Environmental Science & Management. "They break right at the beginning of the reef, rather than on the shoreline."

At the shoreline, the waves carried away a sand dune that had been protecting the habitat of many birds. Hopes are high that the "reef balls" will be help to prevent a similar situation.

"There's lots of egrets," said Alex Brash, president of the  Connecticut Audubon Society. "There's herons, waterfowl, rails, and ducks and geese, also sandpipers that are out there. It's one of the richest places at the mouth of the river."

The project recently landed big grants from the Audubon Society and the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation.

Holes in the reef balls allow water to flow through but will allow sediment to accumulate and serve as the foundation for a new habitat.

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