Nonprofit Dumps 2 Million Tires Into the Ocean to Create Artificial Reefs. Here’s What Happened to the Ecosystem

Marine ecosystems across all of the world’s oceans face the biggest threats of environmental damage. While joint efforts from public and private organizations have helped create awareness and combat the factors affecting marine life, keeping up with the long history of human-caused pollution and degradation is a struggle for most. As many might know, coral reefs are pivotal for the sustenance of life on both, land and water. 

Now, humans, in their feat to salvage nature, have created artificial reefs in multiple sites across the world. One such effort eventually turned out to be a disaster after over 2 million tires were dropped into the ocean in an attempt to create an artificial reef, now known as The Osborne Reef. The project was based off the coast of Fort Lauderdale in Florida between the 1970s and ‘80s, per The Cool Down. The aim was to mimic the environmental benefits of coral reefs using old tires to help marine life thrive in the region. The well-meaning effort backfired with the millions of deteriorating tires polluting the local marine ecosystem and water body. 

Natural reefs act as a barrier against waves, storms, and floods affecting coastlines and prevent loss of life and damage, per the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). Coral reefs are rich sources of food and nutrition for marine animals and humans as well. However, when these underwater coral polyps, largely made of calcium carbonate, are destroyed, it affects the natural weather conditions of coastlines adversely impacting coastal communities and their livelihoods. 

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers approved The Osborne Reef project while the U.S. Navy supervised the mass dumping of tires with a minesweeper ship. Tyre and rubber company, Goodyear donated a significant chunk of the tires in addition to one gold-plated tire to christen the reef for good fortune. Unfortunately, the dropped tires failed to serve their purpose as an artificial reef. The nylon ropes and steel clips loosened out of several tires and were deemed useless with added risks of disrupting nearby coral reefs. This left behind a futile body of tires accumulated deep under the sea further exposing the marine creatures to man-made things that barely serve them as a habitat. 

After the project was identified as an environmental underwater disaster, several organizations got to work trying to clean up the sea floor including the U.S. Military. Over the years, a significant amount has been cleared up but around 500,000 tires still remain submerged under the sea near Florida’s coastline. Environmental organization, 4ocean (@4ocean) shared terrifying glimpses of the so-called Osborne Reef in March 2022. “This operation is an uphill battle. While there's been much cleanup progress since the first photo was captured, there are still over 500,000 tires left sitting at the bottom of the ocean. We definitely have a lot of work to do,” the post’s caption stated. 

However, the post also acknowledged how the “well-intentioned project” had failed and now 4ocean was trying to clean up the mess. The carousel of photos showed glimpses of their clean-up operation as diverse bagged dozens of tires and took them out of the seafloor with them. The foremost picture was eerie enough to send chills down your spine as thousands of abandoned tires lay on the seabed for no apparent reason. This incident can be compared to another human-caused disaster– oil spills on water bodies by tankers, which also gravely affect marine life. 

You can follow @4ocean on Instagram for interesting content on the environment and nature.