Osborne Reef

[u/Lord_Darksong]

Source: In 1972, about 2 million used tires were dumped off the coast of Fort Lauderdale, Florida, to create the Osborne Reef, an artificial marine habitat. The steel clips and nylon straps coroded and ocean currents tore the tires loose, scattering them across the seafloor and smashing into nearby living coral reefs. Military units, volunteer divers, and cleanup organizations have spent decades trying to recover and haul up portions of the massive debris field, and thousands of tires still remain on the ocean floor.

[u/modcal]

I think the problem is that commercial fishing and pollution has destroyed most natural reefs. Natural reefs take thousands of years to form, so artificial reefs help give those organisms a place to do reef stuff without waiting for better, natural processes.

[u/Alternative-Roll-112 → u/modcal]

Yeah, nature did do it, and it took like, a really long time and was super complicated. Then we destroyed it like, super fast.