(CNN) –– Train cars that were once filled with hurrying travelers in the city of Atlanta are now 20 meters below the Atlantic Ocean filled with curious fish, sea turtles and coral.
At the end of last year, the Atlanta Metropolitan Rapid Transit Authority (MARTA) abandoned two train cars off the coast of Georgia as part of a program to develop reef and marine wildlife habitats with the Georgia Department of Natural Resources (DNR) Reef Project. acronym in English).
All hazardous materials were first removed and inspected by the United States Coast Guard.
In August, the DNR Coastal Resources Division conducted its first dive to check the cars and found soft coral and at least nine species of game fish beginning to grow.
“The artificial reef looks great and we are encouraged by the amount of coral growth and marine wildlife activity,” said Cameron Brinton, marine biologist with the DNR Coastal Resources Division, in a MARTA news release.
“You will notice that one of the roofs of the carriages has collapsed, which is typical, and we will see more changes to the carriages over time as they become part of the essential marine habitat for sea creatures, such as the popular sport fish and endangered sea turtles,” Brinton added.
The subway cars aren’t the only unusual objects that divers and fishermen can find on what is known as Artificial Reef L, about 42 kilometers east of Ossabaw Island. There are also US Army M-60 battle tanks, barges, tugboats, and even New York City subway cars.
The reef was first created in 1976 and is part of a network of 32 offshore reefs, according to MARTA.
But the practice of dumping artificial materials into the ocean to create artificial reefs dates back centuries.
According to the Georgia Department of Natural Resourcesin the 18th century Japanese fishermen sank old boats and rocks in local waters to improve fishing.
The DNR warned of the dangers to divers who want to explore the sunken cars, since the reefs were built “primarily to create fishing habitat and provide offshore fishing opportunities. “Wrecks and other reef materials become unstable over time and collapse.”
“For divers, entanglement and entrapment are real dangers that are inevitably associated with artificial reef structures.”
