Buzz
Much of what humans discard into the oceans is harmful, from the massive amounts of plastic swirling in global gyres—potentially ending up in the fish we consume—to untreated sewage released during rainfall.
However, sinking retired NYC subway cars into the Atlantic Ocean during the 2000s? Surprisingly, it might have been a positive move.
The concept was straightforward: By removing unnecessary parts, cleaning the cars, and then dropping them from barges into the ocean off the coasts of New Jersey, Delaware, Virginia, the Carolinas, and Georgia, we could establish artificial reefs to support marine life along the sandy coastal shelf stretching from New York to Cape Hatteras.
Much of this coastal shelf lacks rocky formations that typically serve as the foundation for fish habitats. Once corals and plants take root, oysters, mussels, and other invertebrates often follow, drawing in fish. In this case, subway cars replace rocks, providing a complex environment filled with crevices where marine life can thrive.
"Artificial reefs often support hundreds of times more biomass than the natural seabed communities," Jeff Tinsman, Delaware's artificial reef program coordinator, explained to National Geographic in 2006. "Fish find these environments highly appealing."
Research comparing artificial and natural reefs shows that both types of habitats support comparable quantities and varieties of marine life.
As shown in the video below (jump to 4:12 for the subway-car reefs), an abundance of fish can be seen thriving around what appears to be a reef shaped like an IRT subway car.
Simon Thorrold, a biologist at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute, told mental_floss, "There’s no question that introducing subway cars into areas lacking hard structures will attract invertebrates, which in turn will draw fish."
However, it’s unclear whether these additional habitats are boosting fish populations or simply relocating them. “The key question is: Are you enhancing productivity, or are you merely gathering fish that already exist?” Thorrold explains. “If it’s the latter, you’re just making fish easier to catch. While that’s not necessarily negative, you can’t argue that the reef is increasing fish numbers.”
While fishermen and divers may enjoy these locations (and they undoubtedly seem exciting to explore), they might not be contributing to higher populations of fish or other marine life. Additionally, the subway cars are deteriorating more quickly than anticipated—much faster than the bedrock where natural reefs typically develop.
“These reefs benefit fishermen and divers, but whether they benefit the ocean remains uncertain,” Thorrold notes.
For now, it seems we’ve introduced something into the ocean that, surprisingly, isn’t causing harm.
