In 1992, Salvors operated three vessels throughout Coffins Patch in an effort to unearth buried items. Salvors used mailboxes for years to unearth sunken shipwrecks. The technique in Coffins Patch left over 600 blowholes from January to March of 1992, damaging a total of 1.63 acres of sea grass beds. Keys Sanctuary biologists and divers witnessed and recorded the blowhole damage attributed to Salvors' activities. Instead, the agency will restore an off-site area previously scarred by boat impacts.
Restoration is necessary because sea grass serves an important role in the sanctuary ecosystem.
It stabilizes the sea bottom, prevents erosion, and provides a link in the food chain. Most importantly, sea grass beds provide habitat for young fish and shrimp species furnishing food and providing shelter from predators. The Act prohibits the destruction or injury of a sanctuary resource such as sea grass. Salvors argued that because the sea grass suffered no permanent damage, it is not liable for the restoration of the beds. Noting that the Coffins Patch sea grass beds may take up to 100 years to recover and that artificial restoration is impossible, the court found that sea grasses had been injured and destroyed.