Oil platforms, because unlike the pile of old tires or deserted toilets, platforms span the entirety of the water column, from seafloor to ocean surface, and for years, as the oil companies have been drilling, pumping, and producing, ecosystems have quietly been colonizing, thriving and taking over the legs, crossbeams and joints of these massive structures.
This is what makes the Rigs to Reefs program different, no construction required- plus 50-60 years of living proof of its effectiveness functioning as an established artificial reef, making the title “Rigs to Reefs” a bit of a misnomer.
At a first glance, artificial reefs seem to be a relatively new phenomenon, but in fact, they’ve been a part of coastal marine life for hundreds of years. Whether created to protect strategic areas from hostile weather, guard against attacking enemy forces or to improve fish stocks, man has thrown all kinds of objects imaginable into the water. Some of the earliest man-made reefs were created in Japan in the 1600s to improve fish stocks.
In India, villagers create triangular concrete structures utilizing the sand from their beaches and then sink them in order to address the damage done by commercial trawling in the area. In the US, the first documented artificial reef in the United States was off South Carolina in the 1830s and was constructed using log huts. More recently, the sinking of naval vessels for artificial reefs, as part of the ‘Ships-to-Reefs’ program, has become relatively common practice and serves several purposes. It creates new ocean habitat and a tourist destination, while also relieving the Navy of outdated ships. From the 1830’s to the present, over 80% of artificial reefs in United States waters have been created using secondary use materials.
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