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Delaware Coral is the Ocean's Straphanger
by
findingDulcinea Staff
Fish in the Atlantic are moving in to artificial reefs made of subway cars, sunk there in one of many initiatives around the world to protect ocean life.
30-Second Summary
New York’s old subway cars have found new life as “luxury condominiums for fish” off Delaware’s coast. The program hasn’t been without problems, though. As the state successfully creates an artificial reef for sea life, other states are trying to get the subway cars, too. Commercial and private fishermen are also clashing as their lines get tangled on the reef, and fishing pot thefts have been reported.
As natural coral reefs decline around the world, countries are doing what they can to make artificial replacements.
On the blog Malaria, Bedbugs, Sea Lice, and Sunsets, environmentalist Rick MacPherson has a picture of an artificial structure used to create reefs. “As you might surmise given the terrible state of coral reefs these days, artificial reefs are big news and could potentially become big business,” he writes.
Japan is planning a large-scale coral transplant to protect reefs.
Coral reefs are found in shallow water, and global warming, along with human influence, have destroyed approximately 10 percent of them worldwide, according to Texas A&M University.
As natural coral reefs decline around the world, countries are doing what they can to make artificial replacements.
On the blog Malaria, Bedbugs, Sea Lice, and Sunsets, environmentalist Rick MacPherson has a picture of an artificial structure used to create reefs. “As you might surmise given the terrible state of coral reefs these days, artificial reefs are big news and could potentially become big business,” he writes.
Japan is planning a large-scale coral transplant to protect reefs.
Coral reefs are found in shallow water, and global warming, along with human influence, have destroyed approximately 10 percent of them worldwide, according to Texas A&M University.
Headline Links: 'Growing Pains for a Deep Sea Home Built of Subway Cars'
Subway cars are “the DeLoreans of the deep,” said Jeff Tinsman, Delaware’s artificial reef program manager. He prefers to use them because they are so heavy they won’t shift in storms, are durable, and are spacious enough to attract certain fish. “The one problem I see with them,” Mr. Tinsman told the Times, “is that just like the DeLoreans, there are only a limited number.”
Source: New York Times
Japan plans to move thousands of coral fragments scientists have grown to uninhabited rocks nearly 2,000 miles from Tokyo to prevent them from eroding any more. China has objected to Japan’s territorial claim on the islets, but Japanese officials say the situation is about environmental preservation.
Source: The Globe and Mail
Analysis: Causes of reef destruction
Rick MacPherson, who writes the blog Malaria, Bedbugs, Sea Lice, and Sunsets, is an environmentalist interested in reef preservation. Blast fishing, or using dynamite to fish, is one of the biggest threats to reefs, he says. Coral is “pulverized” and the blasts make it difficult for coral to recover.
Source: Malaria, Bedbugs, Sea Lice, and Sunsets
Related Topics: Protection not enough, other artificial reefs
“Corals are being affected by coastal development, and I think that is mostly because of sewage,” said Camilo Mora of University of California San Diego in an interview with Discovery.
Source: Discovery
The Reef Ball Foundation has placed concrete balls off the coast of nearly 60 countries around the world. Watch the life of a reef ball, starting with its creation to its placement on the ocean floor and the sea life that finds it.
Source: Reefball Foundation
Reference: Natural coral reefs
Coral reefs are also known as “the rain forests of the sea,” because they house many different types of life, including fish and plants. These reefs help create the life that feeds millions of people around the world, and create natural barriers that protect land from currents and waves.
Source: Texas A&M University
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