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Kind: captions
Language: en

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[Calming music]

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With its famed coral reef located only 
a few miles offshore, 

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Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary 
attracts divers, anglers and pleasure boaters from around the world.

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To help avoid damage to the reefs by boat anchors 
and to aid boaters in navigation, the Sanctuary's buoy  

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maintenance team manages more than 770 buoys.

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More than 470 of these are mooring buoys.

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These white buoys with a blue band are placed at 
popular reef and wreck sites allowing boats  

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to tie up to them and avoid the need to drop anchor,
which can break and damage living coral formations. 

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[Calming music]

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Maintaining the Sanctuary's buoys is 
no easy task team. Teams of dedicated divers work  

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diligently to ensure the moorings and their 
underwater components are working properly,

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replacing line and stressed shackles as needed.
The sanctuary installs new buoys periodically,

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a process which requires their trained working 
divers to use heavy hydraulic equipment underwater. 

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[Calming music]

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In between their maintenance 
visits, the buoys and their line attract  

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algae and barnacles which require routine cleaning.  

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[Calming music]

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Cleaning also allows for a 
detailed inspection and replacement of worn parts.

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[Calming music]

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The sanctuary's buoy maintenance team is 
also responsible for the installation and upkeep  

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of hundreds of marker buoys. These buoys include 
the large yellow buoys which designate the  

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boundaries of the sanctuary special zones. If you 
see these yellow buoys you may be in a protected  

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area with special rules. Other marker buoys 
managed by the sanctuary include spar buoys,

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tall, cylindrical buoys which warn boaters of 
shallow areas, no wake zones, and even cultural  

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resources like shipwrecks. Help keep mooring buoys 
in safe and working condition.

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 Please moor to white 
and blue buoys appropriately. Never tie off the 
yellow pickup line directly to your boat.

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Allow enough scope on your vessel's line to ensure the 
mooring buoy is resting in the water. 

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If you notice a damaged or missing line, or to report a missing 
buoy, please call the appropriate Sanctuary office.

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[Calming music]