Dahab, Red Sea, Egypt

A pilot Shelter Shell installation was established at Dahab on Egypt’s Red Sea coast, suspended beneath a marker buoy over an area of predominantly sandy seabed. Although the wider Red Sea supports highly diverse tropical reef ecosystems, the immediate location offered little hard substrate or structural complexity for corals and other reef organisms to colonise.

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The pilot allowed the progression of colonisation to be observed over several years. Soft corals established first, followed over time by the beginnings of hard-coral growth. The project demonstrates how complex, textured hard structures can help initiate reef ecology not only along hard-edged waterfronts, but also over featureless bottom substrates where natural attachment surfaces and refuge are limited.