We're constantly warned about the damage the human race is doing to the planet.
After simulations show what things would be like if we never existed, it's easy to see the harm we continue to do.
Even when mankind tries to do good by setting up its own artificial reefs, we could actually be having a detrimental impact on the future of Mother Earth.
Advert
More than just oceans full of plastics due to human influence, eerie photos show off a man-made underwater reef and the long-lasting effects of what dumping some two million tires into the Atlantic Ocean can do.
While there were some good intentions, the Osborne Reef is just a shadow of its former self and what it hoped to achieve.
Located off the coast of Fort Lauderdale, Florida, the artificial Osborne Reef was originally created with a series of concrete jacks. An expansion got underway in 1972, with plans to dump two million tires and attract more game fish.
Advert
There had already been similar ideas in the Gulf of Mexico, Australia, and Africa, but unfortunately for the Osborne Reef, it was doomed to failure.
After being approved by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, a U.S. Navy minesweeper teamed up with Goodyear to start the dumping operation. Goodyear provided many of the tires and even dropped a gold-plated tire into the reef from the Goodyear Blimp.
Two million tires were held together with nylon rope and steel clips, spread over 36 acres of the ocean floor while sitting 7,000 feet offshore and 65 feet deep. Unfortunately, it didn't take long for them to come loose.
The tires moving around prevented new life from being able to grow, while they also collided with nearby natural reefs that were just 70 feet away - causing even more damage. Over the years, hurricanes have also seen tires wash up on shorelines in massive numbers.
Advert
There have been many attempts to remove the Osborne Reef, with 4ocean launching a cleanup effort and posting on Instagram: "Ultimately, the well-intentioned project failed. And now 4ocean is stepping in to clean them up!"
The organization continued: "This operation is an uphill battle. While there's been much cleanup progress since the first photo was captured, there’s still over 500,000 tires left sitting at the bottom of the ocean. We definitely have a lot of work to do."
Cleanup efforts have changed hands between various bodies and even the U.S. military since 2001. Despite this, Industrial Divers Corporation (IDC) estimated that only 250,000 tires had been removed by 2019.
Advert
4ocean is hoping to fund its own removal efforts with the sale of $29 bracelets, with other donations also accepted. It was estimated that there were still over 500,000 tires sitting there in 2022, and although a cleanup effort was due to be completed by July 2024, that date has been and gone.
Even though 4ocean notes that many of the tires are beyond recycling, any that can be recycled are used to make products that further fund its efforts to clean up the ocean. Funnily enough, dumping two million tires into the ocean might not have been the brilliant brainwave someone pitched it as.