Subway Cars Are Now a Part of Artificial Reefs
During the past few years, a new method of disposing subway cars was in development, they are now being used as a part of artificial reefs. These cars are mainly being placed on the mid-Atlantic coast, the main purpose is said to be to create a new ecosystem for mollusks and other marine life, and to increase fishing activity in the area. Some environmental groups, such as Clean Ocean Action, are trying to at least slow down the dumping of cars.
Why they need reefs?
The Mid-Atlantic coast has no really reef structure, like the rocky one in New England or the coral reef in Florida, so states such as New Jersey have been building different forms of artificial reefs for the last century. The first reefs were simple shipwrecks that with the help of storms found their way to the shores.
English: A barge load of retired New York City sub...
Artificial reef
Constructing an artificial reef using concrete blo...The local fishing communities would befit highly from this kind of debris, the amount of fish caught per day would soar In 1935, New Jersey environmentalists along with the fishing community started a artificial reef program, the idea was to use ships and other former seaworthy material to increase the amount of fish in the area. The success of the first reef encouraged the building of a second, the second was built out of anything they could find including cars, tires and Christmas trees. The situation improved when scientists entered the equation in the 1960s, they investigated the areas building the reefs and began to recommend what type of materials to use, to increase the time life of the artificial reef.
Advantages and disadvantages of artificial reefs
Although the artificial reefs do not help the overall decreasing marine life, it does make fish more accessible to fishermen, the new...