Welcome back to the channel, SD fans. In a recent video, I spoke about wrecks, and the way
in which artificial reefs created by purpose-sunk shipwrecks are often viewed rather differently to
genuine maritime or wartime shipwrecks by some divers. Personally, I like diving any wrecks,
purpose-sunk or not, but what about man-made objects specifically created for this purpose
that are placed on the seabed for divers to enjoy, and marine life to colonise? In this video I’ll
talk about some of the most-successful projects out there – and some that failed dismally.
Ships make perfect artificial reefs. They are big, solid hunks of metal which are soon a thriving
habitat for marine life, but as we discussed in a previous video, airplanes, military vehicles,
oil rigs, train carriages and so on are also finding new lives beneath the surface
around the world. But there is another kind of artificial reef, one which is
specifically constructed for that purpose. Perhaps the most famous are the works of
Jason deCaires Taylor, which are usually placed in locations where there is a lack of natural
reef structure. deCaires Taylor’s sculptures, often of disturbingly lifelike people, are
created using non-toxic, pH neutral marine-grade cement, which is free from harmful pollutants. The
surface of the cement has a rough texture, which encourages coral larvae to attach and thrive,
which nooks and dark cubbyholes formed in the folds of the sculpted clothing provide homes
for fish and crustaceans. His creations make the perfect base for brand-new marine habitats.
His first installation was the Underwater Sculpture Park off the coast of Grenada way
back in 2006. When you dive this selection of sculptures now, you can see how they have been
designed to become one with nature. In many cases, some of the figures have fallen over or being
partially covered by sand, others are so smothered in coral and sponge growth that the once-human
figures have taken on an otherworldly appearance. Since this inaugural construction,
deCaires Taylor has continued a prolific run of underwater parks and museums around the planet,
including in the Bahamas, Mexico, Spain, Indonesia, the UK, Norway, the Maldives, Australia
and France. His latest unveiling was the Museum of Underwater Sculpture Ayia Napa in Cyprus,
which takes the form of an underwater forest being explored by various figures.
The Neptune Memorial Reef is another ambitious project, an artistic representation of the Lost
City of Atlantis. Located off the coast of Miami, it currently covers an area of around one acre,
but it is envisioned to reach 16 acres in the future, becoming the largest man-made
reef ever conceived. The name gives it away – the Memorial Reef is built from columns and structures
that contain the cremated remains of people who have died, thus creating a lasting legacy
for their families, as well as a brand-new marine habitat. By the time it is completed, the Memorial
Reef will include more than 250,000 memorials. The work of the Reef Ball Foundation has also
been very successful. Reef Balls are made from pH-balanced microsilica concrete,
and are treated to create a rough surface texture. They are hollow, and typically have several
convex-concave holes of varying sizes to most closely approximate natural coral reef conditions.
As well as creating reefs in their own right, Reef Balls have also been used as breakwaters
and for beach stabilization. They have been deployed all over the planet, from the US, Mexico
and Antigua to Thailand, Indonesia and Australia. On a much-smaller scale, but already having
positive effects, is the Grand Anse Artificial Reef Project off Grenada. The brainchild of Phil
Saye at Dive Grenada, GAARP sees small pyramids constructed from concrete blocks positioned on
the seabed. The whole idea of this project is that the structures are small enough to be manhandled
into position relatively easily, and the design offers lots of nooks and crannies for marine
life to hide in. 40 of the pyramids are on the bottom so far, with more being added all the time.
Sadly, not all artificial reef projects are a success. Over the years, governments and
non-profit organisations which specialize in sinking artificial reefs have really zeroed
in on what works – and what doesn’t – as the basis for an artificial reef, but occasionally
there is still the odd one which ends in disaster. Take Osborne Reef, off Fort Lauderdale in Florida.
It was originally constructed from concrete jacks, but an expansion plan decided to use
old car tyres as the basis for the reef. This might have sounded a good idea in principle – take
something no longer of use topside and repurpose it underwater. Unfortunately, it failed dismally.
Have you ever dived somewhere with sunken vehicles? Take Car Pile, for instance,
off the coast of Curacao. Here dozens of old cars were dumped by the owners on a beach,
and when a swanky new hotel was due to be built, they wanted a nice, clean beach, so they simply
shoved all the cars into the sea, where they tumbled to various depths down a steep rock wall.
It is a very interesting dive – the deeper you go, the older the cars get,
with some of the vehicles down around the 40m-50m mark being proper 1950s classics.
However, while encrusting marine growth, sponges and corals have really taken a hold on the metal
parts of the cars, the tyres almost looked like new. The same can be said for the trucks in the
holds of the Thistlegorm in Egypt, or the three Fiat cars in the Umbria off Sudan.
Everything is caked in growth apart from the rubber tyres.
So, tyres are not an ideal base for marine growth. The chemical make-up of rubber tyres
obviously inhibits growth, but also the very shape of car tyres doesn’t help.
They are relatively lightweight and thus can be moved easily by storm surge and swells,
which will remove even the odd bit of marine growth hardy enough to get a holdfast, and in
the case of Osborne Reef, it is acknowledged that the tyres moved around to the extent that they
caused damage to the surrounding coral reefs. So as well as failing as an artificial reef,
they actually made things worse! To compound the problem,
literally millions of dollars has been allocated to remove the offending tyres, yet so far more
than two-thirds still remain on the seabed. I think you can agree that is a cataclysmic failure.
Osborne Reef is not the only ‘tyre reef’ out there, though. There have also been tyre
reefs in Indonesia, Malaysia, Australia and Africa, and none of them have worked either!
Thankfully, everyone appears to have learned their lessons,
and tyre reefs have been consigned to the history books.
What is your take on purpose-made artificial reefs? Intriguing dive sites,
or clutter on the seabed? Leave your comments below, and if you have a question, fire away
– if we can’t answer, maybe someone in our community will be able to. Remember,
if you enjoyed this video, be sure to subscribe to our YouTube Channel,
and check out our ever-growing playlist for more educational and inspirational videos.
As always, stay safe – and if you are going diving, enjoy!