What Are Artificial Reefs and Where Are They Located in the Mid-Atlantic?
Reefs provide a home for fish and other ocean wildlife. Once an artificial reef is placed on the ocean floor, various encrusting organisms such as corals and sponges start covering the material. Then small animals take up residence, and as the small animals become abundant, larger animals are attracted. After a time it is hard to tell an artificial reef from a natural reef. Many different types of materials can serve as artificial reefs. The bodies of cars, trucks, subway cars, and military tanks have been used, as well as bridge rubble, barges, boats, submarines, planes, and large cable. In August 2001, New York City subway cars were slid off a barge into the Atlantic Ocean ten miles east of Rehoboth Beach, Delaware. The cars, positioned in approximately 80 feet of water, became an artificial reef. Dives by the EPA Mid-Atlantic Region Dive Team have confirmed that the cars are still intact, well covered by growth, and surrounded by fish such as flounder, tog, and shark. Because of the
