There is a new plan for protecting ocean animals off the U.S. east coast. New York subway cars are being dropped into the Atlantic Ocean to serve as artificial coral reefs. For the past two years 1,300 subway cars have been phased out of the New York City Transit, and now are being placed along the coast. The first state to take cars was Delaware. They agreed to take 400 subway cars. Then, on August 21, 2001 the first group of cars were placed 80 ft below the oceans surface and included 27 cars. South Carolina also agreed to take 300 cars, and plans were being made with New York, Virginia, and Georgia to take cars. These subway cars create a habitat for ocean life like blue mussels and black sea bass. The cars were stripped of their wheels, seats, window glass, and motors, but the metal handles that passengers hold onto were left intact. This is because reefs need hard surfaces to create “an enriched invertebrate community.” Hopefully more states will adopt this new plan, and maybe it will move to the other side of the country as well.



This is an illustration of what the artificial reefs will look like.