By John DeFore
While enterprising Americans are busy submerging decaying urban artifacts to create new fish habitats, one entrepreneur is traveling the world using man-made objects to help habitats grow back in something closer to nature’s own design.
Biologist and avid diver Michael Moore (no, not the filmmaker), concerned about the disappearance of coral reefs, has designed a kit of easily assembled parts that mimics the real thing in such a way as to encourage regrowth. Emphasizing the preservation of tourist economies — a thriving reef means exotic fish, which means scuba tourists with money to spend — as much as a selfless environmental agenda, he has put installations in small coastal villages in places like Indonesia and the Philippines.
