What if I told you that some governments purposely sink their own ships to create habitats for marine life? I wouldn’t be lying. This is done in an attempt to help create new artificial reefs, which are underwater ridges naturally made of rock or minerals, that provide an ecosystem for some of the worlds most interesting marine life to survive from. It creates a surface for algae to spread, and for barnacles, oysters, and other marine marine invertebrates to prosper. Unfortunately due to multiple circumstances, natural reefs are dying off. One way that humans have figured out how to create more, if by taking large vessels that are no longer of proper use, and sinking them in specific bodies of water. Over time, the ocean will naturally use the surface of these ships to create underwater life, refuge, hunting grounds, and growing space; a blank slate. All ships have parts removed that could pollute or contaminate the waters, that would defeat the entire purpose of reusing these ships.
The largest ship made artificial reef is from the U.S.S. Oriskany (shown below), a 44,000 ton Aircraft Carrier that was sunk off the Florida coast in 2006. This ship is often referred to by skuba divers as ‘The Great Carrier Reef’. The Oriskany (aka Mighty O) once sailed with 2,600 men and women aboard, carrying roughly 95 aircraft.
Other ships resting peacefully under water and creating habitats for marine wildlife include the U.S.S. Massachusetts, U.S.S. Indra, U.S.S. Yancey, and the USNS Hoyt. S. Vendenberg, a World War 2 transport ship, along with dozens of other large vessels across the world. This obviously does not include the hundreds of 20th/21st century ships that sank in combat with life aboard, however the remains of these ships are likely to create the exact same effect, assuming their pollutants and HAZMAT discharges dissipate over time. UNESCO claims that over an astounding 3 million vessels of some sort, are lying on the sea floor, including small wooden ships and vessels dating back to early military navy’s that sailed over 1,000 years ago.
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