Subway cars in the ocean: “Luxury condominiums for fish”

It’s no secret that NYC has been sending old Subway cars to Delaware for reef revival. But until now, I haven’t seen any images of the process. Here’s a pretty awesome slideshow from the NYT about how the Subway cars are towed out to sea and dumped. Each train car is 19-tons of steel and metal and is able to support vast quantities of ocean life.

The New York Times reports that the Subway cars are a huge success in Delaware’s “Red Bird Reef” (named after the famous Redbird Subway cars).

The reef, named after New York City’s famous Redbird subway cars, now supports more than 10,000 angler trips annually, up from fewer than 300 in 1997. It has seen a 400-fold increase in the amount of marine food per square foot in the last seven years, according to state data.

In the last several years, the reefs have drawn swift open-ocean fish, like tuna and mackerel, that use the reefs as hunting grounds for smaller prey. Sea bass like to live inside the cars, while large flounder lie in the silt that settles on top of the cars, said Mr. Tinsman, the Delaware official.

States have experimented with other types of artificial reef materials, including abandoned automobiles, tanks, refrigerators, shopping carts and washing machines.

Mr. Tinsman particularly favors the newer subway cars with stainless steel on the outside to create reefs. “We call these the DeLoreans of the deep,” he said.

Subway cars in general, he said, are roomy enough to invite certain fish, too heavy to shift easily in storms and durable enough to avoid throwing off debris for decades.

That’s pretty awesome!