Hogfish With Lipstick

I saw a news story the other day on yet another boat that is being intentionally sunk in the ocean to create an artificial reef.  It sounds like a great idea and brings up wonderful images of fish and coral and tropical beauty.  However, reality can be quite different.  The phrase "artificial reef" is simply a nice way to say "disguised trash".  We use this nonsense all the time to justify dumping trash into our oceans.

Here in South Florida some years ago, someone had the bright idea to dispose of old tires by depositing them into the ocean and creating an artificial reef.  Can you guess what happened?  Here is a USA Today story showing just how bad of  an idea that was - and still is.  Thousands of old tires tossed around in the ocean current as nothing more than the trash they are.

And yet we are still doing it.  Every time we come up with a heap of trash that nobody wants to deal with, someone decides that the ocean is a perfect place to dump it.  We send broken up concrete from buildings and bridges, old boats and ships, and lots of other things that don't belong in the ocean.

I have a better idea.  Let's let the Earth create it's own reefs and find a way to recycle our trash.  Humanity depends on our oceans for everything - without them we are dead.  There is abundant life in our oceans - or at least there used to be.  But as with all of nature - our oceans rely on a delicate balance that is easily destroyed making them unsuitable for life.  It is careless and selfish to simply dump our trash there for any reason.  Speak up against artificial reef projects - your life - our life depends on it.