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Florida Coral Reef Damage From Nuclear Submarine Grounding And Proposed Restoration, Kenneth Banks, Richard E. Dodge (Editor), Lou Fisher, David K. Stout, Walter Jaap

Marine & Environmental Sciences Faculty Articles

The United States submarine Memphis grounded in approximately 10 m water depth on a tropical coral reef ofT southeast Florida in February, 1993. The grounding caused extensive physical and biological damage to the reef substrate and to the coral community. As part of a claim by the State of Florida against the United States, the impact of the grounding was assessed, and the area of damage was determined through field and photographic studies. A recovery rate for the reef was assigned from literature estimates. The NOAA Habitat Equivalency Model (HEM) was used to calculate the reef area needed to be …