His passengers held onto the boat's sides as it bounced over waves, and Frank Mancinelli joked, “Wish they'd pave these roads.” Mancinelli, a Florida Sea Grant volunteer and U.S. Air Force veteran, positioned his boat above the Voodoos, a few miles off the coast of Panama City, Florida.

Frank Mancinelli navigates the waters off the coast of Panama City, Florida, in Bay County.

For more than three decades, Florida Sea Grant agents, scientists and volunteers have led the development of the state’s artificial reefs. Reef projects around the state benefit from the 51-year-old program's research expertise and the access it provides to more than 800 coastal and ocean scientists. The program represent partnerships between universities across the state and the federal government’s National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

Artificial reefs lead by Sea Grant are designed based on the needs of individual communities, whether that means building new habitats, removing pressure from natural reefs or stimulating the economy. The Voodoos, like hundreds of other artificial reefs in Bay County, are the product of partnerships between Florida Sea Grant, based at the University of Florida, Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission, local county officials, and a number of private organizations.

In Bay County, Sea Grant agents knew ex-fighter jets make bountiful reefs. Wrecked military equipment attracts thousands of divers and fishermen each year at older artificial reef sites, plus red snapper and other reef fish had been observed during surveys of an F106 aircraft deployed off the shore of Bay County in the 1990s.

Once piloted by two local Air Force veterans, many people were anxious to bring the Voodoos home before they were sent to a scrapyard.

Three years after the jets were deployed, Mancinelli and diver Allen Golden, the artificial reefs program coordinator for Bay County, put down anchor at the reef.

Golden put on his dive gear and prepared to monitor and document the reef. Artificial reefs throughout Florida are monitored to track progress and ensure they're thriving. In fact, anyone can participate in artificial reef monitoring by completing a survey after a reef visit.

Golden jumped into the Gulf and dipped below the waves.