Pahang is the first Malaysian state to use LRT coaches as artificial reefs. — Handout
Three decades – that is all the time we have left to ramp up our marine conservation efforts, or the underwater world as we know it would be completely altered, and not in a good way.
To be precise, we have under 30 years to save our oceans. Because according to Coral Guardian, a non-governmental organisation focused on protecting coral ecosystems, “90% of coral reefs could disappear by 2050”.
Coral reef endangerment has been a decades-long issue that many conservationists have strived to rectify. Facing threats from both nature and humans, coral reefs have been observed to be in decline since the 1950s, and a study in 2021 showed that the world has lost half of its coral reefs since then.
National Oceanic And Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and International CoralReef Initiative (ICRI) released a statement last April confirming the world is currently experiencing another global coral bleaching event.
This is alarming news considering that this is the fourth instance of such event, all caused by El Nino. The first was reported in 1998, followed by the second event in 2010. The third was the longest as it lasted from 2014 to 2017.
Efforts on track
Earlier this year, NOAA’s Coral Reef Watch issued a Bleaching Watch notification to Malaysia, prompting the country’s Department Of Fisheries (DOF), state offices and NGOs to closely monitor reef conditions in order to mitigate the bleaching effects.
A member of ICRI, Malaysia is also a part of the “Coral Triangle”, an area in the western Pacific Ocean recognised by scientists as the world’s richest marine biodiversity, representing 30% of the world’s coral reefs.
As such, the country has continuously employed various programmes and initiatives to protect its marine ecosystems.
Malaysia’s latest ocean conservation effort saw one of its states, namely Pahang, making history as the first state to use decommissioned Light Rail Transit (LRT) train coaches to create artificial recreational reefs – officially named the Al-Sultan Abdullah Dive Site.
The Sultan of Pahang, Al-Sultan Abdullah Ri’ayatuddin Al-Mustafa Billah Shah, officiated an event held at the Berjaya Tioman Resort in mid-July to submerge the coaches. Also gracing the event were Tengku Ampuan of Pahang Tunku Azizah Aminah Maimunah Iskandariah, the Regent of Pahang Tengku Hassanal Ibrahim Alam Shah, and Tengku Panglima Raja Brigadier General Tengku Amir Nasser Ibrahim Shah.
Tengku Amir Nasser led the team of 60 divers who submerged the LRT coaches.
“We are paving the way for future marine conservation efforts and setting a benchmark in eco-tourism,” Tengku Amir Nasser said in a statement.
Recognised by the Malaysia Book Of Records (MBOR) in the Buildings And Structure category, the MBOR: First LRT Coach Reef In Malaysia project hopes to foster a robust ecosystem that will alleviate coral stress within Pulau Tioman Marine Park as well as boost the local economy by attracting more diving enthusiasts.
Submerged in the island’s Monkey Bay area at a depth of 18m, the two coaches had been thoroughly cleaned prior to submersion to eliminate hazardous chemicals.
Aesthetic values such as the emergency phones and seats remain intact to serve as interesting exploration points for future divers, who should be able to conduct diving excursions at the site by next year.
Azlan Md Nor, who heads DOF’s ecosystem conservation and biodiversity unit, said that the department will regularly monitor the reefs to ensure their environmental safety. He also shared their plan to plant staghorn corals on the coaches within next year.
USS Oriskany in the US is the world’s largest artificial reef. — GREG GRIMES/Wikimedia Commons
Unique artificial reefs
From trains and tanks to barges and ships, these are just some of the vehicles and vessels that have found new lives as artificial reefs.
Roughly 25km off the coast of Delaware, United States is Redbird Reef, named after the New York City Subway train model that forms it.
As many as 2,500 of the subway coaches were sunk into the Atlantic Ocean in 2001 to create the reef.
While these coaches remain on the seabed to this day, a subsequent attempt in 2022 to create another reef using New York’s subway coaches – this time using the Brightliner ones – failed due to one major difference: The materials.
Redbirds are made of carbon steel while Brightliners are built using stainless steel. The former, which is more resistant to corrosion, proves to be more resilient than the latter when it comes to withstanding underwater conditions.
Georgia, another US state that also used Redbirds to create one of its artificial reefs, just last year added two of its own Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority subway coaches to its Artificial Reef L near Ossabaw Island.
(Far left) Thailand’s HTMS Sattakut is a navy vessel purposely sunk in 2011 to create a reef. — Amada44/Wikimedia Commons
The US is also home to the world’s largest artificial reef, namely the USS Oriskany. At 277m long, the naval warship can be found off Pensacola Pass, where it was intentionally sunk in 2006.
Malaysians hoping to explore a sunken vessel turned artificial reef a little closer to home could visit the HTMS Sattakut Dive Site in Koh Tao, Thailand. Sunk in 2011, it additionally serves as a site for PADI Wreck Specialty Courses.
Other than repurposed objects, artificial reefs are also made of art installations created with the intention of promoting ocean conservation while providing interesting artwork for divers to marvel at. Jason deCaires Taylor is among the most prominent figures when it comes to this.
The acclaimed British sculptor’s ocean-based oeuvre begun with the Molinere Underwater Sculpture Park in 2006. He has since built various other underwater museums and sculpture parks, including Ocean Atlas in Bahamas (2014), The Coral Greenhouse in Australia (2019) and Cannes Underwater Eco-Museum in France (2021).
Meanwhile, submerged exhibits by British artist Petroc Sesti and Argentinian conceptual artist Leandro Erlich can soon be admired at Miami Beach’s The ReefLine, an underwater public sculpture park founded by Argentinian curator Ximena Caminos. The exhibits include a starfish reef (by Sesti) and a “traffic jam” (Erlich).
One of the sculptures at Australia’s The Coral Greenhouse. — MOUAAustralia/Wikimedia Commons
