The sinking of the merchant vessels, Dantor, Bulk Trader, and Eben-ezer The Broward County Department of Planning and Environmental Protection (DPEP) has created three new artificial reefs. The ships-MV's Dantor, Bulk Trader and Eben-ezer II -were purchased from the U.S. Customs service at a total cost of $10,000. These vessels were seized by U.S. Coast Guard for transporting illegal drugs, and they were provided to the County at a very low cost. A grant from the Broward Boating Improvement Program was used to pay for the ships. The first deployment was made on Thursday, May 2, 2002. The MV Dantor, 160 feet in length, was placed offshore of Hollywood Beach (26 00.5905 N, 80 04.9899 W) at a depth of 128', outside of the third reef. The Eben-ezer II, 85 feet in length, was also sunk off of Hollywood (26 00.398 N, 80 05.589 W) in 70' of water on May 14,2002. The third ship, the Bulk Trader, 180 feet in length went down in 313 feet of water off of Fort Lauderdale (26 08.6104 N, 80 03.8348 W) on October 4, 2002. It is anticipated that these artificial reefs will be popular with both divers and the fishing community since they will be located in the range of depths used by both. In addition to recreational use, the MV Eben-ezer II will be used by scientists to look at the effects on the fish population of placing artificial reefs near natural reefs. For further information, please contact Joe Ligas of the Biological Resources Division of DPEP at 954-519-1296, [email protected]