I remember a few years ago, I did watch a TV documentary about artificial reefs produced by the National Geographic.
I found it very interesting, except they shown the sinking war ship and tank did provide an eco environment for most of the fish, the most impressed me a underwater concrete art gallery in Mexico MUSA ((Museo Subacuático de Arte) by Jason deCaires Taylor.
The art he made is so impressive, but unfortunately, I will never have a chance to visit that amazing museum, because I don’t know how to swim.
But it is good that we have internet, I still can keep up to look at his website, they updated his projects very often and I really love his work :
And then, we have concrete memorial reefs, which can bury your love one who don’t afraid of sea. hihihi…
But actually, I don’t like this kind of cemetery, don’t you think this don’t serve any purpose? Your family need to diving into the deep sea to see your grave?
And if you think it is good to the environment, but why don’t you just spread your ash into the ocean to feed the fish or into a garden to grow a tree. The only way good is someone did can earn a living out of it. Haha!
1. In ancient, human built reefs for the other race’s attack.
2. According to the Wikipedia, thousands year ago, Persians (now is Iranian) blocked the mouth of the Tigris River to thwart Indian pirates by building an artificial reef, and then, during the First Punic Warthe Romans built a reef across the mouth of the Carthaginian harbour in Sicily to trap the enemy ships within and assist in diving the Carthaginians from the island.
3. Japanese using rubble and rocks to make reefs to grown kelp (海帶/昆布), since 17th century.
4. And the earliest recorded construction of artificial reef in the United States is from 1830s when logs from huts were used off the coast of South Carolina to improve fishing.
1. a) According to Wikipedia, when the ocean current reach a vertical structure (like concrete block, sinking ship) which put on the bottom of the sea, the current rise up the a cloud of plankton / ocean micro organisms, that can attract small fish, which also draw in pelagic predators like tuna and sharks.
b) It also mentioned same as the National Geographic documentary that fish love the protection of hole or crevice which provided by the sinking ship.
c) another benefit is algae, tunicates, corals and sponges grown in the reef structure over months or years, that create more food and protection for the fish.
2. Coastal protection: barriers are built near fragile shores, Japan built over 4000 breakwaters in the last 20 years.
3. Surfing reefs: reefs are installed to amplify waves in popular surfing areas.
1. Back in 1972, a well-meaning non-profit group came up with the idea of creating an artificial reef off the South Florida coast using two million old tires. The sunken rubber was supposed to lure game fish to the area and simultaneously reduce toxic waste on shore. Reefs like these already existed in Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, Africa, Australia, and the Gulf of Mexico. None of them have been successful. Steel restraints holding the tires of the Osborne Reef together have rusted away. When tropical storms come the tires careen across the ocean floor destroying marine life and damaging natural coral reefs along the way. This ecological catastrophe has gone unnoticed by the critical human eye for decades.
‘Reef’, by Hannes Bend:
Osborne Reef, more then 2,000,000 used vehicle tires were dumped off the coast of Fort Lauderdale, Florida to form an artificial reef is a disaster.
I remember when we clean up our river, we did find some people dumping vehicle old tires for growing oyster, vehicle tire is make of toxic plastic, when it dissolve into the water, it will poison the fish and human. We try so hard to take the tire out of the river, because it weight 10 times when it stuck in the river bed!!!! That is why I know so well the damage it cost on Osborne Reef.
2. I think the officially sanctioned material should be non release or dissolve toxic to the environment.
3. Another thing that very interesting me on the wiki web, is about Electro mineral accretion, it is not easy to understand for a people like me who have no knowledge about chemistry. but after explanation from Edward. I found it incredible interesting. He told me about the typewriter history, how IBM came up with a solution to electro plate a plastic typing ball with hard chromium in 1961.
using electrochemical process chrome onto the surface of plastic, this is similar what it explain about EMA (Electro mineral accretion) : a group of scientists put a low voltage current to the sinking ship, in order to electro the limestone which floating in the sea, then attach the coral to grown.
when I google about artificial reefs in the google picture…. I can find – dumping subway cars, conrete block, old fishing boat, war ship, antenna, plane……………………….. it is really scare me… it seem artificial reefs also can call artificial rubbish sea!!!!!!!!!!!