Ep 162 | Is Pensacola a premier dive location?

SPEAKER_01 0:00

So they were super excited, especially when I told them you're going to have to design this reef with all the factors that we taught them about. And you're going to have to create a proposal that actually will go up for bid the bidding process because a contractor will deploy these reefs. And so they were really excited that this reef literally is going to be named after our school.

SPEAKER_00 0:20

What? Welcome to the Voices United in Education podcast. Each week we showcase the teachers, administrators, and community members who go the extra mile to contribute to the success of every student in Escambi County. You'll meet the real people behind the titles and learn about the amazing resources to support every student's success. Everyone wants their kid to pass science class, but could the benefits of STEM reach as far as our local economy? My next guest is the Marine Science teacher at West Florida High School, who's helping pilot the new artificial reefs curriculum, the results of which could mean new reefs in the Gulf, new tourism dollars for the community, and community-ready students, connecting concepts to the community and bringing STEM to life, Escambia High School graduate Matt McGregor. Thanks for being here.

SPEAKER_01 1:18

Yeah, thanks for having me.

SPEAKER_00 1:19

I am so excited to talk about this because I'm I'm an ocean girl. I just love it. And I think the idea of high school students being a part of the process of establishing an actual reef in their actual town is the literal coolest. So how did this come about?

SPEAKER_01 1:36

Well, it all started with Mr. Robert Turpin, because he's our chief of marine resources here in Iskambe County. And he is responsible for getting all the artificial reefs funded and also have them designed, put out to the bid process, and then deployed into the Gulf. So Robert instigated this program because he wanted to involve high school kids. And through that process, he contacted our district science supervisor, Cheyenna Novotny. So Cheyenna got with me, and Robert got with me, and we teamed up with Washington High School, Jason Mellows over at Washington. They had the Marine Science Academy. So now we have Westwarta High and Washington High working with Robert and Cheyenne and also Rick O'Connor with our local Sea Grant. So we have all kinds of good rock stars involved in this project.

SPEAKER_00 2:26

I don't think it could be said better. Those people are a hundred percent rock stars in our community.

SPEAKER_01 2:31

Absolutely. And I've enjoyed working with them for many years. I actually went to college with Robert.

SPEAKER_00 2:36

Did you really? Okay, so let me ask you this, since you know him personally, what made him think, oh, you know who would be great is students.

SPEAKER_01 2:44

Well, I think because Robert has been doing this for many years, he wants to give back to the community and he wants to include, you know, part of the educational process and bringing kids in and let them be a stakeholder, uh, let them have a little skin in the game, so to speak. And that's exactly what he did. But he also teamed up with Coastal Conservation Association, the CCA, and they're the ones who gave us a $50,000 grant to do this project.

SPEAKER_00 3:09

Oh, wow. Okay.

SPEAKER_01 3:10

Right. They're a nonprofit organization. If you go to their website, I think right now there's a for $50, you can enter a drawing for a brand new 24-foot contender fishing boat.

SPEAKER_00 3:22

Hey, okay.

SPEAKER_01 3:23

And so this nonprofit gave us the grant for this project.

SPEAKER_00 3:28

And so that $50 entry into the drawing is part of what becomes the bucket of money that helps fund the grant?

SPEAKER_01 3:35

Absolutely.

SPEAKER_00 3:36

Oh, wow. I love that's so interconnected. That's like really letting the community into it.

SPEAKER_01 3:42

It it really is. And so I've told all my friends about it, and I'm definitely going to buy my ticket.

SPEAKER_00 3:47

Well, maybe we can link that in the show notes too, because I'm sure everyone wants a chance to win a boat. Right. And the idea that you could at the same time be investing in the future of our marine ecology and our tourism is just, I mean, that's like a win-win.

SPEAKER_01 4:02

Absolutely.

SPEAKER_00 4:03

So a lot of people, I don't think, know that Pensacola is a really amazing deep dive destination. Did your students already know that?

SPEAKER_01 4:10

They may not have known it, but through this program, they're definitely more aware of it. Just because Pensacola was founded on fishing, probably the red snapper population. We don't have, say, natural coral reefs like they do in the Florida Keys. But for diving, having some structure to dive on really brings these artificial reefs into play.

SPEAKER_00 4:31

Talk about some of the current structures that we do have, because I think that paints the picture of what's available.

SPEAKER_01 4:38

Further offshore, there is a lot of natural limestone bottom, but for diving, artificial reefs are big here. In fact, we have the largest artificial reef in the world, the Euriskany, and that's offshore. And Robert was instrumental in getting that put out there. And that has attracted tens and tens of thousands of scuba divers here. We're a world-class dive destination for that. Also, as you may have heard in the news, the SS United States is about to go out off destined. And so I think all that is adding to the attraction of people coming here and spending money in our economy. But there are hundreds and thousands of other little reefs out there too.

SPEAKER_00 5:13

Yeah. Talk about some of those because those are also, I think, very accessible for people who want to interact with the underwater wildlife.

SPEAKER_01 5:23

We have a lot of different artificial reefs varying from boats to ships to airplanes to tanks, a lot of things that people like to see, including off of Destin. I believe they've even got underwater like people.

SPEAKER_00 5:37

Oh, the art.

SPEAKER_01 5:38

Yes.

SPEAKER_00 5:38

Yeah, it's an art exhibit, right?

SPEAKER_01 5:40

Yes. So an art exhibit is becoming a thing here, in addition to all the you know sunken vessels.

SPEAKER_00 5:45

Isn't that so funny? Because when you've live you've lived here a long time, right? Well, you graduate from high school here.

SPEAKER_01 5:50

Right.

SPEAKER_00 5:50

And so when you're here and you grew up here, you just don't think of the place that you're so used to as anything special. And so to realize that we have so many special features in a subject matter that people outside of our state are interested in, it's sometimes good to get that perspective.

SPEAKER_01 6:08

It definitely is. And sometimes when you leave and come back, you appreciate it more. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 6:14

And there's reefs, even just off of they're walkable. You can do shore dives, right? Like right off of Pensacola Beach where Crabs is the restaurant, you can just walk straight out. And there's a reef out there. Sometimes there's a sea turtle, sometimes there's a shark. Just right off the shore.

SPEAKER_01 6:30

There's some wonderful snorkeling reefs in the Gulf. There's also wonder even in the bay. If you're on the entrance to Fort Pickens, there's a nice reef there. Actually, a lot of these reefs become memorial reefs. So they they name them after someone. In fact, one of my friends who's passed on, they named that reef after him, Bob Coral's Reef. And so it's nice to be able to, you know, be that kind of that forever uh this you no one will forget about you.

SPEAKER_00 6:56

Yeah, yeah. And you can go and visit in a way that is a little bit more unique than a normal memorial for sure. Right. So there's the idea that students would be a part of this, a part of something that is so special and so varied. We've got art exhibits, we've got shore dives, we've got deep dives, we've got world-class dives, is pretty incredible. What was their reaction when they heard that they were going to be able to be like such a part of this creation?

SPEAKER_01 7:24

So I announced this project to my two honors classes this year because we plan on growing this in the future, not only with my students, but with other high schools in our area. So they were super excited, especially when I told them you're going to have to design this reef with all the the factors that we taught them about. And you're going to have to create a proposal that actually will go up for bid the bidding process because a contractor will deploy these reefs. And so they were really excited that this reef literally is going to be named after our school.

SPEAKER_00 7:54

What?

SPEAKER_01 7:54

Yeah. And so anyway, they're super excited because now they want to get certified to scuba dive.

SPEAKER_00 7:59

Oh, I love that.

SPEAKER_01 8:00

And I'm going to go too.

SPEAKER_00 8:02

That's amazing.

SPEAKER_01 8:03

Right.

SPEAKER_00 8:04

When you said they are building the reef based on all the factors we learned about, what are those factors?

SPEAKER_01 8:10

Okay, Mr. Turpin came to the class twice and he taught them all about factors like subsidence, how reefs will sink into the bottom. So you have to have a certain amount of surface area. You also have to have a certain amount of weight, mass, a certain amount of height. Also, what the structure's made of plays a role, like for example attracting invertebrates.

SPEAKER_00 8:31

And so like crabs and shrimp.

SPEAKER_01 8:33

Exactly. And sponges and corals and worms, crabs, you know, all that sort of thing. So all that came into the design process, we also gave them a budget, of course. And we even took a field trip to Orange Beach to the reef maker to see how they make these reefs.

SPEAKER_00 8:49

What was their reaction when they saw how the reefs were made?

SPEAKER_01 8:52

They were really impressed. It also gave them a better idea of the size of these reefs. Because that was part of our proposal was do you blow all your money on one big reef or do you sp design it so you have variations of reefs, like one to attract invertebrates, one to attract big fish, one to attract small fish. And one of them was a grou where it targets grouper.

SPEAKER_00 9:15

Oh my gosh, that's so cool.

SPEAKER_01 9:16

Even though it wasn't my proposal, I did have a little input. And I said I want a grouper condo.

SPEAKER_00 9:22

So is that part of the voting process with the kids deciding this or that?

SPEAKER_01 9:27

What it is, I broke the kids up into groups and they all had to submit their proposal. And I judged the proposals, but there was also a lot of discussion amongst the groups comparing each other's proposals. And I was going to break it down to the top three and send those off to Robert, but instead I just picked the best one and sent it on.

SPEAKER_00 9:47

So can you tell us what the best one was?

SPEAKER_01 9:50

The best one is a group of about six of these, they call them Florida limestone. They're basically a pyramid, they're a tetrahedron, and they're about eight foot off the bottom. And one of them, actually, two of them has the grouper condos, which is basically a box underneath the tetrahedron. And that box gives the grouper a place to hide. In fact, that's part of the process. They asked us how we wanted them placed on the bottom. And so we actually submitted a diagram. The kids did, and uh a diagram to Mr. Turpin to when it goes out to the bidding process. That's how we want it placed on the bottom of the Gulf.

SPEAKER_00 10:24

And how far out are we talking?

SPEAKER_01 10:26

Well, that was part of the decision. They had to vote. And you're right, they did vote. They had to decide are we going to do this five or six miles offshore, which what we call near shore, or are we going to do it 10 miles offshore, which what they call, you know, I guess off offshore. And they chose the near shore. And they made that decision based upon several things. The depth of the water for easy scuba diving. Because we all know if your diver, shower water means more bottom time.

SPEAKER_00 10:50

Right.

SPEAKER_01 10:51

And so that was part of the process. And it was also just the ability to get out there. A lot of these kids, their parents do have boats, and going 10 miles offshore is a lot different than going five miles. So that was part of the process.

SPEAKER_00 11:05

That's incredible. So, how much of this process has been different from an educational perspective than the curriculum they would have already been involved with?

SPEAKER_01 11:16

I've been teaching kids for 24 years, and I try to teach them real world things, not just things out of a textbook. And I felt like what this did was link their own lives and link something real, and they're part of that real process, not just learning about something hypothetical or something off of a PowerPoint presentation. It gave them a real reason to be interested in it because they know that at the end of the day or the end of the summer, we're going to have artificial reefs offshore with their name on it.

SPEAKER_00 11:48

That's so cool. So a part of that real world process is the bidding part. So how will that work for the kids? Can you paint a picture of what that will be like for this particular project?

SPEAKER_01 12:01

Okay. Coming up on May 12th, 2025, there's going to be a meeting where some of my students will get to go present a PowerPoint about this whole project. But the bidding process, I believe, has either already happened or is happening. And it's a sealed bid process.

SPEAKER_00 12:20

So it's behind the scenes. No one really knows who's bidding.

SPEAKER_01 12:22

Right. And then, you know, once Robert or whoever it is wins the bid, that's when they'll put it out to contract. And so Robert has invited us to go see this happen, to get on a boat, a charter boat, and go offshore and watch. And so I'm not sure whether it's going to be a field trip or whether it's going to be something we do on a weekend, but I'm looking forward to it.

SPEAKER_00 12:42

I can tell. Your face is so lit up right now.

SPEAKER_01 12:45

Yeah, and I'm hoping that they'll let us bring fishing poles.

SPEAKER_00 12:49

Yeah. So you said that the students will have a reef with their name on it. And you also mentioned that Washington High School is doing this. Is each school getting their own reef or is it one collaborative reef?

SPEAKER_01 13:03

It's going to be two separate reefs.

SPEAKER_00 13:05

Wow.

SPEAKER_01 13:06

Basically, they got $25,000 and we got $25,000. And so we each get 10 minutes to present at this meeting coming up. In fact, it's going to be the Marine Advisory Committee on 5 30 Monday, May 12th, 2025.

SPEAKER_00 13:22

Okay.

SPEAKER_01 13:23

And so Washington High School students will do their presentation also. And Jason Mellows over there is a great instructor, and I'm I can't wait for us to hopefully get on a boat and go see this all happen on the bottom of the Gulf.

SPEAKER_00 13:36

I know that you hope that this program will continue on and that it will not just be a one-time only, really amazing experience, but that other students will be able to participate. How do you hope, though, that this will impact this group of students into adulthood?

SPEAKER_01 13:52

Well, this experience, I believe, will help them understand how processes work, how the government works, and hopefully I think they're going to become lifelong, you know, users of our marine environment, whether it be scuba diving or fishing. Because these reefs can be fished in in Dove. And but it's really cool because they also learn about other reasons for having reefs. Like for example, we mentioned the memorial reef. And I think that's a really good thing to be able to do and and you know be immortalized that way.

SPEAKER_00 14:24

So in the economy part too.

SPEAKER_01 14:27

And the economy.

SPEAKER_00 14:39

So is that how is that different than the Oriskany when it comes to world biggest.

SPEAKER_01 14:43

I believe just surface area on the bottom of the Gulf m makes it larger. So the Oriskany is the It's the largest ship on the bottom of the anywhere in the world right now. Okay. The SS America is about to be the largest ship.

SPEAKER_00 14:59

It's about to take the the crown.

SPEAKER_01 15:00

And then the bridge rubble is the That's going to be the lar it's probably going to be in the Guinness Book of Worlds records as the largest artificial reef in the world.

SPEAKER_00 15:09

Wow.

SPEAKER_01 15:09

I mean, I guess you could say they're all artificial reefs, but the bridge rubble is technically a lot larger.

SPEAKER_00 15:16

Wow. And where is that one?

SPEAKER_01 15:19

That one I want to say is about nine miles southeast of the Pensacola Pass. And all these the the GPS coordinates are all on the Escambi County Reef website. Okay. It's all public.

SPEAKER_00 15:30

So you were talking about the economy impact.

SPEAKER_01 15:32

Absolutely. Obviously, it's a growing industry. It supports a lot of dive boats and the hotels, the tourism, the restaurants, you know, where people are staying and that sort of thing. And it's work definitely contributing to that, you know, by building these reefs.

SPEAKER_00 15:47

Well, not just by building the reefs, but by involving the students in that process, you're essentially investing in the future decision makers of creative tourism. And that seems like more of a direction that those boards of tourism are going in. Like, how can what can we do next? How can we reach people that are that are coming up who are going to want to spend their money visiting us?

SPEAKER_01 16:12

Well, be because we're coming more known as a destination dive town between us and Destin, and even Orange Beach, Alabama for that matter, but we're this a good central location. And I believe that with I think with the SS United States coming in, I think it's going to put us more on the map. You know, we don't have German U-boats here. Because that you can go dive German U-boats off New Jersey, but you got to battle the cold water. Here you don't have to do that. Not to mention, believe it or not, lionfish has brought in a lot of diving here. It's it's become an industry. We have people flying in from all the country to to go lionfish hunting. And you've met you've met them.

SPEAKER_00 16:49

Yes, I've met them. Yeah, yeah, exactly. So I think it's so neat though that something that we think is exciting and we think is cool is not just living in a silo, that it's expanding out to include the next generation. And that's really an incredible thing. So I'm so glad that you came today to share. Do you have any final thoughts before we close?

SPEAKER_01 17:11

No, other than I'm glad that the word is getting out. And I'm really hoping that this program that we're doing will be able to continue this with our students every year. And I hope that that will be the the case.

SPEAKER_00 17:23

Me too.

SPEAKER_01 17:24

Well, thank you for having me down here.

SPEAKER_00 17:26

Absolutely. This was fantastic. Thanks for listening. Be sure to subscribe and share. Voices United in Education is a production of Escamby County Public Schools.