Divers and recreational fishermen can add Collier County, in southwest Florida, to their list of must-visit dive sites. The reason? A total of 36 artificial reefs are being created off its coast.

The City of Naples, Collier County and the City of Marco Island obtained $1.3 million from BP's $57 million Gulf Tourism and Seafood Promotional Fund, the result of a legal settlement against BP for the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. Additional funds came from private donations.

The new reefs will be 10 to 28 miles offshore, and anywhere from 40 feet to 75 feet in depth. "The reefs range in distance from shore to allow both divers and fishermen to enjoy and utilize them," says Katie Laakkonen, environmental specialist with the City of Naples. "The reefs farther offshore will generally result in better water clarify for divers, while the nearshore reefs will be easily accessible to boaters and fishermen."

As a precaution, each site was vetted before placement, and will be comprised of 500 tons of clean concrete material, such as light poles, culverts, pilings, junction boxes, road barriers and limestone. "Diver surveys are completed prior to each deployment to ensure that no living hard-bottom animals - corals and sponges - are present at the site," Laakkonen says.

As we went to press, more than a dozen of the reefs were in place.

For more on marine conservation:

20 New Protected Species | International Shark and Ray Conservation | Fishing Banned in Pheonix Islands