Molasses Reef is a

coral reef A coral reef is an underwater ecosystem characterized by reef-building corals. Reefs are formed of colonies of coral polyps held together by calcium carbonate. Most coral reefs are built from stony corals, whose polyps cluster in groups. Co ...

located within the

Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary The Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary is a U.S. National Marine Sanctuary in the Florida Keys. It includes the Florida Reef, the only barrier coral reef in North America and the third-largest coral barrier reef in the world. It also has ex ...

. It lies to the southeast of

Key Largo Key Largo ( es, Cayo Largo) is an island in the upper Florida Keys archipelago and is the largest section of the keys, at long. It is one of the northernmost of the Florida Keys in Monroe County, and the northernmost of the keys connected b ...

, within the Key Largo Existing Management Area, which is immediately to the east of

John Pennekamp Coral Reef State Park John Pennekamp Coral Reef State Park is a Florida State Park located on Key Largo in Florida. It includes approximately 70 nautical square miles (240 km²) of adjacent Atlantic Ocean waters. The park is approximately 25 miles in length a ...

. This reef is within a Sanctuary Preservation Area (SPA). The reef was marked by an unmanned reef light for most of the 20th century. On August 4, 1984, the motor vessel ''Wellwood'', a 122-meter freighter carrying pelletized chicken feed, ran aground on Molasses Reef. The total destruction from the grounding included 5,805 square meters of living corals and injury to 75,000 square meters of reef habitat. The vessel was removed by the

US Coast Guard The United States Coast Guard (USCG) is the maritime security, search and rescue, and law enforcement service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the country's eight uniformed services. The service is a maritime, military, multi ...

NOAA The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (abbreviated as NOAA ) is an United States scientific and regulatory agency within the United States Department of Commerce that forecasts weather, monitors oceanic and atmospheric conditio ...

coordinated an effort to restore damage to the reef, by placing reef modules in the injured areas to provide a substrate for new coral colonization. Biological restoration took place using transplants from

Pickles Reef Pickles Reef is a small coral reef located within the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary. It lies to the southeast of Key Largo, to the south the Key Largo Existing Management Area and John Pennekamp Coral Reef State Park. Unlike many reefs ...

and the facilitation of coral larval settlement. NOAA settled a claim worth $6.275 million with the responsible parties, the ''Wellwood'' Shipping Company (owner of the vessel) and the Hanseatic Shipping Company (shipping management company), in 1986, and all payments to NOAA were completed by 2001.''Wellwood'' Coral Reef Restoration Project
accessed 12 January 2011 Molasses Reef is a popular

scuba diving Scuba diving is a mode of underwater diving whereby divers use breathing equipment that is completely independent of a surface air supply. The name "scuba", an acronym for "Self-Contained Underwater Breathing Apparatus", was coined by Chris ...

and snorkeling location with numerous dive sites marked by mooring buoys. One notable site is at buoy #7 and is variously referred to as the ''Winch Hole'', ''Windlass Wreck'', or ''The Winch''. Here lies the large mechanical winch from the ''Slobadana'', a 170-foot wooden hulled schooner that sank in 1887 after only three years in service. In addition to the winch itself, various mechanical artifacts are scattered over the nearby area. Also, large coral formations with (relatively) deep channels between them make this a popular dive location.

References

External links

*
Air Photo
of Molasses Reef in 1984, showing the wreck of the ''Wellwood'' as well as the reef light (near center)

NOAA National Marine Sanctuary Maps, Florida Keys East

NOAA Navigational Chart 11464
Winch Moment

{{Recreational dive sites, reereg Coral reefs of the Florida Keys Underwater diving sites in the United States