Early Artificial Reefs

New Developments in Artificial Reefs

Pauline Marie reef
The Pauline Marie sinks slowly on the Atlantic City Reef.

By Evelyn DeWitt Myatt & Bill Figley, 1986

It's hard to imagine anything that could have looked more forlorn than the rusty old freighter whose proud seagoing days were a thing of the past. Floating idly at her berth awaiting her fate, she was a victim of nature's ravages that had left her beautiful only in the eyes of her old captain and crew. The Pauline Marie, however, was not destined to be the victim of a cutting torch that would turn her into a tangle of scrap steel. Instead, she was acquired by the New Jersey Artificial Reef Program and went down with dignity as an artificial reef in March 1985. She now provides continuing services from her watery grave in the Atlantic, some twelve miles off Atlantic City, and her appeal to marine life is undeniable. Her interior compartments now shelter fish and crustaceans; her decks now provide substrate for mussels, soft corals, and plant life; and her newfound productivity has put delicious seafood on many tables.



Cinderella reef
Type:
artificial reef, trawler
Built:
1964, St. Augustine FL ?
Specs:
( 70 ft )
Sunk:
Tuesday March 15, 1983 - Sea Girt Artificial Reef
Sponsor:
Artificial Reef Committee
GPS:
40°06.777' -73°56.860'

Cranford reef
In life, July 1939. At this time, CRRNJ ferries were painted overall dark green. Notice how it says MEN on one side and WOMEN on the other.
Type:
artificial reef, ferry, Central Railroad of New Jersey, USA
( sometimes incorrectly identified as a barge )
Name:
All CRRNJ ferries were named for New Jersey towns - Lakewood, Bound Brook, Red Bank, Plainfield, Elizabeth, Wilkes Barre, Cranford, Somerville, Westfield, and Bound Brook
Built:
1905, Wilmington DE USA
Specs:
( 191 x 44 ft ) 1197 tons
Sponsor:
Ashley Development Corporation
Sunk:
Tuesday March 30, 1982 - Sea Girt Artificial Reef
GPS:
40°07.447' -73°56.227'
Depth:
70 ft


Dykes reef
Type:
artificial reef, schooner barge, USA
( The small smokestack in the pictures is for an electrical generator. )
Built:
1919, Baltimore MD USA
Specs:
( 306 x 35 ft ) 2072 tons, 14 crew
Sponsor:
Modern Transportation Co.
Sunk:
July 1983 - Sea Girt Artificial Reef
GPS:
40°06.964' -73°57.571'
Depth:
65 ft



drysuit

Serious New Jersey divers wear drysuits. A drysuit is a waterproof suit with built-in feet that seals around your neck and wrists ( some have built-in water-tight gloves and/or hoods as well, ) and a waterproof zipper to close it up. The idea is that although you are underwater, you don't get wet, but this is not entirely true. No seal is perfect, and certain actions will let small amounts of water leak in past the seals. However, most of the moisture that accumulates in a drysuit comes from its occupant, in the form of perspiration. If water can't get in, then it can't get out either. Perhaps these should be called dampsuits instead of drysuits.

Still, in cold water, a drysuit is much warmer than a wetsuit. This is because you maintain a constant layer of air between you and the cold, and air is an excellent insulator. While air is also the insulating factor in wetsuits, there is a difference. With either suit, the volume of air, and therefore the amount of insulation, compresses as you go deeper. With a wetsuit, there is nothing you can do about this, but with a drysuit, simply tap the inlet valve, and compressed air will flow from your tank into the suit, and puff it up again, keeping you warm. An added benefit is that by keeping the suit inflated to a constant volume, you maintain constant buoyancy, from the surface to the bottom, which can actually reduce the amount of lead you need to carry. Some divers even dispense with the BCD, considering that a drysuit can be thought of as a full-body BCD, but this is not recommended, and it is convenient to use the BCD as a quick trimming device and for surface flotation.

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