Possibility of an Artificial Reef????

[jsado]

I live 5 minutes from Lake Ontario. I dive there quite frequently and know of very few local spots worth suiting up for. Luckily I'm pretty excited just to be in the water. There are very, very few rocky areas near me and any time we drop down, it's hit or miss. It's very easy to see lots and LOTS of sand though.

So, my question is this. Is it possible for me to get my local government officials to okay creating some sort of artificial reef? Can I somehow get them to sink a couple of old boats or something?

 

[Guba]

Certainly it's possible. All that is needed is a HUGE amount of dedicated effort, a LOT of patience and persistence, the ability to handle a gorgantuan amount of red tape and governmental papers, and quite possible a few million dollars.

That might sound trite and sharp, but please be encouraged, not discouraged. Others have done it, and the results have been some of the neatest marine environments and dive sites to be found. What it really takes is someone or some organization to seize the project, tenaciously hang onto it, and push it through.

I hope you find success. The results are worth it, in my view.

 

[BarryNL]

Hmm, dive clubs over here often seem to be sinking boats. Obviously regulations here will be completely different but basically I think it involves buying a boat that's scrap anyway pretty cheap, then stripping out everything that might cause pollution. I'd say talk to local dives clubs and the local authorities - they should be able to point you in the right direction.

 

[jsado]

Ok, so I'll start with a petition. Can someone give me facts or point me in the right direction, about the benefits of such a thing?

 

[fisheyeview]

The US Navy often time donates the ship to be sunk. The money, and lots of it, is for the environmental preparation that needs to be done to the ship before it is sunk. Uou might want to shoot a PM to Capt Gary. He is a regular on the board, and a dive shop operator in the Keys. They sink ships down there.

 

[Garrobo]

Talk to your Congrssman and Senators.

 

[bdshort]

Our dive club is just starting this process. We have a 55' ferrous cement sailboat we're going to be sinking. We'll probably start stripping it down soon, and apparently we'll be getting the paperwork process started this week, though I really don't know what that involves yet myself.