artificial reefs

[jaybombs25]

Coming from the "toilet" thread.

Has anyone here tried to make their own artificial reef? be it a group of persons? What sort of materials could be used to do this? I think it would be interesting to sink a bunch of cars or something along those lines on a sandy plain and see what crops up after a few years. Doesn't have to be cars any commonly found items are considerable. Even a pile of rocks may be worthwhile. I am not necessarily trying to do this now just entertaining the thought and how it would work out.

 

[Doc]

We've been dropping stuff in the drink for years. It gets encrusted. An example that I have watched for 22 years, the Prince Albert Wreck off of CoCoView Roatan.

Her big plus is the she sits in 22 to 65 feet of depth, well protected from the storms and wave action, fully bathed in sunlight. Interesting growth patterns specific to channel currents and sunlight. Here's an amusing video about her Prince Albert Footage - CoCo Chat

Search around for the recent project in Maldives where electric current is being applied to metallic grids in order to stimulate calcium deposits needed for coral growth. They also proactively remove the Crown of Thorns. New and interesting stuff.

The hard part is getting local EPA buy in. They frown on such projects, having learned from the old tire debacle. It seemed like a great idea.

 

[SFLDiver3445]

Besides the difficulty in getting things approved by the EPA, when dealing with salt water, don't most thin metal structures deteriorate quickly? I remember years ago when they sank the Boeing 727 off Miami Beach, it deteriorated quickly. Furthermore, once the first big storm came through it moved it right away. For those reasons, large iron ships are ideal, but even those require a heavy amount of laborious preparation and even they get moved and/or damaged during big storms. In Miami, I have seen large wreck get moved and destroyed, even in as deep as 130+ ft of depth, by very large storms.

 

[1_T_Submariner]

If you could find an aircraft carrier from WWII that would make a good reef. Check out the USS Oriskany.

 

[BTravlin]

There was an article in the Wall Street Journal just today about a nonprofit organization called the Reef Ball Foundation that has helped cultivate over 4,000 artificial reefs around the world. They seem to be having very good success and I hope they're able to continue.

 

[jaybombs25]

I was thinking of something on a much smaller scale, that individual divers could do. Remember this would be in the Caribbean

 

[diver_daver]

Here, check these people out Sidney Pier Artificial Reef Science {work/family safe}. They are in Sidney, British Columbia.[FONT=Arial, Helvetica][SIZE=+1]
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[scubapro50]

What ever happend to the Texas Clipper project? Sinking the old Texas A&M research ship was to be in July but put off till June or August due to weather. Was the ship ever sunk and how did it go ?

 

[RAD Diver]

Not sunk yet, probably next year.
Clipper trip - Zendiving

 

[MaxBottomtime]

On a small scale, I placed a statue at my favorite dive site, Marineland last year. It has become a nice little reef of its own.