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Mermaid Sculpture Becomes Singer Island's Newest Artifical Reef

Posted by Dan Hauser on Friday, August 12th, 2016 at 12:08pm.



On Thursday, Palm Beach County dropped "Andrea's Reef", a 20-foot by 15-foot artificial reef weighing 60,000 pounds, about one mile north of the Lake Worth Inlet and three-quarters of a mile east of Ocean Reef Park.

The mermaid, which was originally supposed to be placed offshore at the Breakers but moved, was molded and sculpted after three time breast cancer survivor Andrea Torrente. Thomas McDonald designed the statue with the help of students from the Riviera Beach Maritime Academy. The reed also includes Roman columns, a treasure chest, sea turtles, and stingrays.

“It’s so tough fighting this disease every day and now for the third time… And to get a call saying, ‘You’re going to be a model for a statue of a mermaid on a new artificial reef in Palm Beach County,’ was amazing!” Torrente said in a news release announcing the deployment. “It really makes a difference. It lifts your spirits and is inspiring to others with cancer and battling illness. The reef will bring new life and hope to other survivors while improving our marine environment.”

The statue was dropped at 9am on Thursday in front of Torrente, McDonald, Torrente's family and friends, media, students and staff from the school, and representatives from the Susan G. Komen foundation. The event drew 100s of people who lined the beach to watch as well as dozens of boats and passengers looking on from the Majestic Princess Cruise boat that had just pulled back into the Port of Palm Beach.

Andrea's Reef is the second artificial reef to be added to the waters of Singer Island in the 30 days. Last month, the 170 foot Ana Cecilia was sunk off the beaches of Singer Island.

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