The Final Destination for a Generation of New York City Subway Cars: Redbird Reef<\/p>\n
The ultimate endpoint for a generation of New York City subway cars was a barge located in the Atlantic, 16 miles away from the Delaware coastline. A crane transported the stripped steel boxes into the sea, resulting in the cars plunging 80 feet down, resting on the sand in various orientations. This submerged location, recognized among divers as the underwater train wreck, is officially designated as Redbird Reef by Delaware. Named after the red-coated \u201cRedbird\u201d subway cars that comprise its structure, it evolved into a successful artificial habitat along the American coast, influenced by more than just the marine life it draws.<\/p>\n
The Short End of the Habitat Stick<\/p>\n
The seabed off Delaware resembles a desert, according to Jeff Tinsman, the former manager of Delaware\u2019s artificial reef program. The mid-Atlantic coast showcases a noticeably sparse seabed, with 95% consisting of bare, featureless sand and a scarcity of rocks. This substrate presents a challenge as marine ecosystems rely on sessile organisms, like blue mussels and barnacles, necessitating hard surfaces for attachment. The water is abundant with drifting larvae that lack suitable anchoring spots, resulting in a simplistic ecosystem of worms and burrowers, with a limited fish population due to the absence of a developed food chain.<\/p>\n
A Train is a Surface<\/p>\n
In 2001, New York’s transit authority made its retiring subway fleet available to interested states, with Delaware receiving barges filled with these stripped steel cars. Delaware installed 714 of the carbon-steel Redbirds on its reef, accompanied by other obsolete vehicles. Subway cars are perfect for reef structures because their hollow, steel bodies enable fish to navigate through while offering shelter, providing thousands of square feet of stable surface essential for mussel larvae. The mussels soon flourished on the cars in significant numbers, fostering a vibrant community of invertebrates.<\/p>\n
What Moved in Upstairs<\/p>\n
Fish rapidly inhabited Redbird Reef, including black sea bass and tautog, species that depend on structures for protection. This surge in fish revitalized local fishing and diving industries, increasing site visits from hundreds to thousands each year. While issues arose due to the rapid decay of a newer batch of stainless-steel cars, the Redbirds have maintained their structural strength over time. Though artificial reefs concentrate fish rather than restoring full ecosystems, they offer a vital resource by providing the necessary surfaces for life to flourish.<\/p>\n
The foundation for this revamped ecosystem was merely the inclusion of surfaces. The mid-Atlantic\u2019s desolate landscape only required this enhancement to support an entire food chain that once lingered over an unyielding seafloor. New York\u2019s subway cars supplied this missing element, transforming a formerly barren seabed into a thriving underwater habitat.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The Final Destination for a Generation of New York City Subway Cars: Redbird Reef The ultimate endpoint for a generation of New York City subway cars was a barge located in the Atlantic, 16 miles away from the Delaware coastline. A crane transported the stripped steel boxes into the sea, resulting in the cars plunging […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":375327,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"Default","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[179],"class_list":["post-375326","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-source-scienceblog-com"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wolfscientific.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/375326","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wolfscientific.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wolfscientific.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wolfscientific.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wolfscientific.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=375326"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/wolfscientific.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/375326\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wolfscientific.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/375327"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wolfscientific.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=375326"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wolfscientific.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=375326"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wolfscientific.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=375326"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}