News from the Delaware Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control.
August 12, 2009 - Vol. 39, No. 340
For more information contact Jeffrey Tinsman, Fisheries Section, Division of Fish and Wildlife, 302-739-4782 or 302-258-5247; or Michael Globetti, DNREC Public Affairs, 302-739-9902.
44 NYC subway cars deployed over Del-Jersey-Land artificial reef site, Delaware’s newest artificial reef – the Del-Jersey-Land reef, named for the three states nearest the watery site – today received its first deployment of retired New York City subway cars to enhance fisheries habitat.
Forty-four stainless steel subway cars by way of New York’s Metropolitan Transit Authority (MTA) and barged down the coast were deployed over the reef site, 26 miles southeast of Indian River Inlet.
The subway cars were sunk to expand reef capacity that bolsters fisheries habitat, in turn increasing fishing and diving opportunities for the thousands of recreational anglers and divers who visit Delaware’s network of artificial reefs each year.
“These cars will provide protection for reef fish like black sea bass and hard substrate for the attachment of a diverse invertebrate community, providing enhanced feeding opportunities for fish,” said Jeffrey Tinsman, reef program manager with DNREC’s Fisheries Section.
This is the fourth sinking of retired NYC subway cars in recent months, with 44 cars also sunk in March and again in April, and 39 cars going down in June. According to Tinsman, the latest complement of 44 cars sunk over Del-Jersey-Land is another deployment that “keeps all cars on one level in order to test whether this affects durability of the cars.”
Many earlier sinkings at artificial reefs along the East Coast were made with one subway car piled atop another on bottom, for a two-tiered reef habitat. “This being the first deployment of cars on the Del-Jersey-Land site, it will assess the cars’ durability in depths in excess of 120 feet,” Tinsman said.
The latest sinking brings the number of subway cars comprising artificial reefs in Delaware waters to 1,041 since the reef project began in 2001.
The great majority of the cars make up the state’s most popular artificial reef, the Redbird Reef (the name a variation of the nickname for the subway cars deployed onto the reef). With a total surface area of the cars at more than 2.5 million square feet, Redbird Reef supports a marine life community up to 400 times richer than the natural bottom. Subway cars make ideal reef material, because voids and cavities in the cars’ structure provide the perfect sanctuary for reef fish.
Today’s operation was carried out by the marine transportation division of Weeks Marine, Inc., a worldwide towing and barge operator contracted by the MTA/New York City Transit, which also completed the car cleanup to remove all greases and buoyant materials that might be harmful to the marine environment. The operation was funded by MTA New York City Transit. DNREC’s role was to oversee the placement of the subway cars at the reef.
For more information, visit http://www.fw.delaware.gov/Fis…rtificialReefProgram.aspx or contact Jeff Tinsman, Delaware Reef Program administrator, at 302-739-4782.