New underwater park near Hillsboro Inlet aims to be a living laboratory

A new underwater marine park called Wahoo Bay aims to become a living laboratory for people to learn about the ocean and what thrives in it.

The park will be located on the southern side of Hillsboro Inlet in Pompano Beach, said Rob Wyre, a member of a volunteer group working on the project since 2017.

“We are creating a mini marine estuary,” he said.

Wahoo Bay won’t be a sandy playground, but an educational space where visitors can explore above or below the water — or go virtual — to learn about the ocean, how to protect it and how underwater ecosystems help us.

Wyre says his volunteer group is still working with the Pompano Beach Parks and Recreation department to determine what the programming for the park will be like, but they are envisioning school groups taking field trips here and having outdoor classrooms with educational exhibits. Snorkeling will also be available, he said.

“Wahoo Bay will help people understand the oceans around them because you don’t have to be a certified diver to see it,” said Wyre, who is also the chairman of Shipwreck Park, a diving destination about a mile out from Pompano Beach.

Wahoo Bay is a Shipwreck Park initiative that will be run by the same team of volunteers in conjunction with the city’s parks and recreation department and Broward County.

“Think of all of the children who have not been to the ocean that don’t understand the wonder of it,” he said.

The group made progress in January when the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission committed $50,000 to Broward County for Wahoo Bay, according to Wyre. However the new park will cost more than $1 million to complete and additional funds to maintain day-to-day, he says. They are holding fundraisers and asking for donations at wahoobay.org/donations-page.

In March, the city designated a public swim area at Hillsboro Inlet Park to create a mini marine preserve for Wahoo Bay. The body of water is 6 feet deep at its most shallow point, but can be as deep as 12 feet.

Architectural renderings show a structure partially surrounding the swimming area to the north, south and west. The structure is an engineered marine and estuarine shoreline protection system called SEAHIVE, created by scientists at the University of Miami. The hope is that the system will not only protect the area from flooding and erosion but will be hospitable to sea life, creating an eco laboratory for Wahoo Bay visitors.

“It presents a magnificent amount of square footage that will be inhabited by grasses and ... corals and fish and things like that,” Wyre said. “And on top of those SEAHIVEs we’re going to plant mangroves and maintain the mangroves so they don’t become overgrown...they maintain the underwater expansion but we don’t cut the limit of the view from the park to the lighthouse.”

Construction on the marine park including the installation of SEAHIVE, underwater sensors, cameras and a swim access platform is expected to start later this summer or in the fall.

Existing coral colonies identified in the water where Wahoo Bay will be located will be safely moved during construction and brought back to the area under FWC guidelines, according to Wyre.

“We hope that with all of this improved habitat it will attract fish and other invertebrates to the area and it will become its own little zoological feature,” said Wyre, who points out data collection is also a crucial part of the experience.

“We plan to deploy the Kilroy Continuous Water Monitoring System that will capture and report real time readings on: dissolved oxygen, pH levels, salinity, turbidity, water temp, nitrogen...among others. This information will be made available for study in classrooms and by other interested citizen scientists.”

Many details are still being worked out with the city in terms of visitor entry into the park and price. Also, access to Wahoo Bay from Hillsboro Park will not be allowed when weather or water conditions are deemed unsafe.

“We need to do what we can to help the next generation, and the next generation after that, understand the importance of protecting this precious land and learn the things they can do to affect the way the climate is going,” said Wyre.