ARSBC - Bulletin Board

Annapolis Artificial Reef Project:
Update on Sponges

As part of the Artificial Reef Society long term goals for marine habitat conservation I am pleased to share this brief update.
The ship as a structural platform continues to provide successful adaptation transforming what was once a low productive sea floor in Halkett Bay into a localized diverse eco-system. What we have come to learn from previous artificial reefs sunk in coastal waters of British Columbia is that there are 3 paths to fish and fauna colonization.
The first is the perpetual seeding of a ship by ocean currents depositing all types of embryonic marine organisms in variable larva stages. These life forms attach to most surface areas for a chance to survive that would otherwise fall to a sandy sea floor to perish or be consumed. The reason why ships are a good material of opportunity for marine recruitment is that they are very long term, providing for diversified complex habitat that have height, dimension, innumerable surface areas that support marine habitat at multiple levels of the water column from 100 feet on the seabed to 30 feet below the surface.
The second path to colonization occurs by those marine animals, mostly invertebrates, that crawl along the sea floor and eventually find a substrate that would otherwise not be there. They eventually crawl up and take shelter or feed upon other organisms that have already adopted the ship as habitat. And lastly, the third, being those organisms that have successfully established their position on a man-made substrate and are successfully reproducing.
In April of 2015, we set out to sink the former HMCS Annapolis a 366-foot destroyer escort with a flight deck in Halkett Bay Provincial Marine Park. This, followed by a rigorous monitoring program to keep track of the recruitment of fish and fauna after it was sunk. Within a few months of sinking, we set up the A.B.I.S. (Annapolis Biodiversity Index Study) in co-operation with BC Parks, the Department of Fisheries and Oceans and The Vancouver Aquarium’s marine taxonomist.
The A.B.I.S. project lasted for five years between 2015-2020 and divers catalogued the gradual progression of life from a basic diatom mat (similar to moss) through to the appearance of invertebrates and the arrival of a variety of fish species. By the third year of the A.B.I.S. project we discovered pregnant quillback and copper rockfish and many in their juvenile stages. Today, we commonly see ling cod guarding egg masses on the ship between November through to April and the appearance of finger sponges. The A.B.I.S. project proved to be valuable as it allowed for the opportunity to observe and document the seasonal changes.
After five years the Annapolis is now supporting approximately 177 species representing all phyla of marine flora and fauna found in BC waters, once again proving the benefits of artificial reefs as a habitat recruitment tool. Today, the Annapolis has matured to become a self-sustaining ecosystem.
As well, species abundance recruitment continues by observation from recreational divers. Now, the presence of cloud sponges is expanding. These sponges are in turn providing critical shelter for juvenile rockfish and a variety of shrimp species as seen from the 4 images below.

Doug Pemberton, ARSBC Director Marine Habitat

Broken- Back shrimp within cloud sponges.

Juvenile copper rockfish under shelter inside the cloud sponge

Sponges expanding on the ship supporting rock fish habitat

Same cloud sponge at the bow from April 2024 to November 2024

Fish Cuts on the Annapolis

"Back in the days when we were gutting the Annapolis, dismantling, and collecting metals for recycling, several of us were in the main electrical room where several flat aluminum plates that were used as shelves. Most were about 18 x 24 inches. I recall they were being gathered and numbered about 15 or so. I instructed the volunteers of the day to remove and store them in a room the ARSBC used for storing our tools and clothes. That room is on Burma Road directly across the hall from sick bay. During a break for coffee, on a whim I asked if anyone knew of a company that does laser or high-pressure water cutting on metal plates. Sure enough one fellow did and was the son of the owner for Bronco Custom Works in Burnaby. The idea I had was to cut out various sizes of rockfish and ling cod and to weld them to the ship which was dedicated to the restoration and preservation of these important species. Bronco was happy to provide this service for our cause so its nice to see this picture still intact."

Howie Robins – President ARSBC

More Cloud Sponges on the Annapolis

Some more great pictures of the sponges that are really starting to make a home on the Annapolis. You can clearly see the life that comes with these sponges. A clear proof of the success of this reef!

Pictures provided by Chris Sherwood

First Cloud Sponge detected on the Annapolis

We are seeing the first cloud sponges arrive on the Annapolis. It has proven to be a great artificial reef that continues to amaze us.

Picture provided by Chris Sherwood

Reef-based carbon sequestration study delivering 'encouraging results'

Off the Texas coast, artificial RGV Reef is ‘capturing or trapping CO2 . . . in some significant proportions,’ says UTRGV research lead with Enbridge-funded study

There’s the proverbial knowledge sponge. On the flipside, there’s the dreaded fun sponge.

In this case, off the Texas coast, researchers believe they may be dealing with an environmental game-changer—the invaluable carbon sponge.

In October 2022, work began on a groundbreaking carbon sequestration study on the RGV Reef, a 1,650-acre artificial reef off South Padre Island in the Gulf of Mexico. The project is being managed by the Friends of RGV Reef, a non-profit group that created the reef in 2017, and University of Texas Rio Grande Valley (UTRGV) researchers, and funded through a $250,000 Fueling Futures grant from Enbridge.

At the outset, it was hoped that the study could provide a seminal moment in the battle against climate change. And at the project’s midway point, the UTRGV researchers are seeing promising results.

“The early data that we are seeing is delivering some encouraging results. The sponges and soft corals that cover the reef do contain high amounts of carbon,” says Dr. Richard Kline, Ph.D., Professor, School of Earth, Environmental, and Marine Sciences at UTRGV, whose team is leading the research.

A researcher bags samples from the RGV Reef to be studied in the UTRGV lab

“We suspected that reefs, man-made or natural, could sequester or capture carbon. Now, initial data shows that the reef’s structure, the bottom or sediment, and the biomass, fish and other marine life in the water column, is indeed capturing or trapping CO2, a known greenhouse gas, in some significant proportions.”

Since its creation, the RGV Reef has already brought back substantial populations of fish and attracted growing numbers of other sea life. The majority of the artificial reef consists of cleansed, intentionally sunken vessels, concrete rail ties, and cinder blocks.

“UTRGV’s research is the most comprehensive study in the world to determine the ability of artificial reefs to capture or trap carbon—and maybe provide a solution in dealing with our real-life climate challenges,” says Gary Glick, President of the Friends of RGV Reef.

“If reefs prove to be a major force or a way to capture carbon, then this research could benefit every country in the world that has a coastline,” he adds. “As human beings, we need to look at all the ways we can reduce emissions and capture greenhouse gases. Reefs may be an important tool in our bigger toolbox that we can use to help us achieve a cleaner and brighter future.”

After refining the data collection process, with supporting lab analysis, the study now enters its final 12-month phase.

“The study is driven by the data we’re collecting. At the end of the study, we will publish our findings for the world to see,” says Dr. Kline. “We’ll be able to know definitively if reefs have the ability to capture carbon in enough concentrations to have a significant impact.”

Article was originally posted by Enbridge

The Artificial Reef Society of British Columbia (ARSBC) is awaiting Provincial Ministry of Environment (Parks) for review of our application for a park use permit to install a replica Ch-124 Sea King helicopter.

Courtesy ARSBC

Society President and CEO Howie Robins comments “since the completion and publication of our 5-year marine biota data gathering known as Project A.B.I.S. (Annapolis Biodiversity Index Study) the evidence of net gain of species recruitment to the ship continues to prove the viability of re-use and repurpose of ships-to-reefs. Our objective is to build upon this success as an additional gift to the marine park through our application to add more complex habitat onto an already existing artificial reef, referencing it as a marine habitat amplification initiative.”

The CH-124 Sea King was an integral part of the Annapolis and sister ships as an extension of operational capability at sea. Sea King helicopters served Canada coast to coast for 55 years before being retired in 2019. It was the most operationally deployed helicopter in Royal Canadian Air Force history and the ARSBC will pay tribute to the aircraft, former crew, and maintenance engineers by this installment.

Courtesy Apex Structural Design

Fabricated from uncoated steel plates, it will measure 69 ft long,16ft tall,11 ft wide and weigh 11 tons. Operational plans will be to lower by barge and crane into position onto the flight deck simulating a state of readiness to fly.

Robins added "the entire project is a first of its kind working with industry partners Apex Structural Design Ltd. Red Deer Alberta and Burnaby based George Third& Son metal fabricators. The skeletal format allows for unimpeded currents to flow-through depositing embryonic materials onto the structure as it has on the ship. “eco-adventure divers will enjoy this feature and will add significant recreational value to the marine park while building upon species recruitment, retainment and abundance.”

ARSBC pays respect to the family of Phil Nuytten
13 August 1941 – 13 May 2023

Innovator, inventor, explorer, dreamer, trailblazer. Phil Nuytten was all these things and more.
Phil was a man who turned dreams into reality and, as a result, changed and expanded our knowledge and understanding of the world's oceans.

He will be sorely missed.

Photo by Lee Newman

Off the Beaten Path: The Magic of Artificial Reefs
From Compass Magazine Vancouver Island Issue 42
Dec 22 / Jan 23

The Team going out to the YOGN-82

FOR END-OF-LIFE SHIPS, a new life starts at the bottom of the ocean. Underwater artificial reefs take marine vessels and convert them to living incubators for a plethora of marine life, from plants, to sponges to fish. For a group of marine environmentalists, underwater visits to two ships reminded the team of the magic of reef making. A team from the Artificial Reef Society of British Columbia (ARSBC) and the producers of a new groundbreaking underwater TV documentary, Water Worlds, came together in September to explore two artificial reefs: The YOGN located near Powell River and the former HMCS COLUMBIA near Campbell River. The purpose of the dive was to explore and film marine life for an upcoming Water Worlds episode featuring artificial reefs. Due to COVID restrictions, the ARSBC had not visited their latest reefing projects since 2018. Like magic, teams discovered over the last few years marine habitat has exploded. Like other artificial reefs managed by ARSBC, the YOGN and COLUMBIA show how end of life vessels have a second life in expanding marine habitat.

Photo by Dirk De Keersmaecker

Rockfish and Lingcod Call YOGN Home
The teams were amazed to see so many resident rockfish and lingcod on the YOGN after only a few years as a reef. The USS YOGN-82 was an unpropelled gasoline barge built in 1943 by Concrete Ship Constructors, National City, California and launched in 1944. Displacing 4860 tons, she is 375 ft long, 56 ft wide and 38 ft deep. Each vessel had a crew of twelve and carried ten million liters of gasoline in twenty-four cargo tanks. She was reefed in June 2018 off Willingdon Beach in Powell River, BC and now rests on her keel fully upright in one hundred feet of water. As an artificial reef, the YOGN has been positioned where water currents deliver and deposit embryonic organisms onto its complex structure, continuously seeding all areas, especially the exterior. The ship now has a coating of algae that has formed a diatom matt holding numerous species of plants and filter feeder species. A diatom matt is essentially the basic building block of a new reef habitat and support system. Importantly, certain marine species that photosynthesize on artificial reefs also aid in carbon sequestration, the act of pulling in and capturing CO2 emissions from the atmosphere. The YOGN demonstrates how artificial reefs not only expand marine habitat but also help reduce greenhouse gases.

COLUMBIA is an Incubator for Sponges and Fish
Teeming with life, the COLUMBIA appears to be an incubator for juvenile marine life, from sponges to fish. The former HMCS COLUMBIA was a Restigouche Class Destroyer Escort, built by the Burrard Drydock Company in North Vancouver. Commissioned on 7 November 1959, she served on Canada's East Coast until 1967 when she returned to Esquimalt as a stationary training ship. She was decommissioned in 1974 and reefed in June 1996 off Maude Island, Campbell River, BC and rests on her keel in about 120 ft of water with a 36⁰ list to port.

Above Cabazon resting on the deck of YOGN-22, surrounded by bladed red algae (Photo by Dirk De Keersmaecker)

Water Worlds Feature Artificial Reefs
Water Worlds Season 1 is the first all Aboriginal Canadian film production that focuses on the oceans and waterways around Canada through an Indigenous lens that highlights Indigenous and non-Indigenous peoples working together to save Mother Earth. Each episode in the series will highlight those who’s mandate is to help make a difference. The ARSBC was thrilled to learn one episode will feature artificial reefs and include ARSBC as the ships-to-reefs disposal experts. The show is scheduled to air in the fall of 2023 on the Aboriginal Peoples Television Network (APTN). Narration by Métis actress Tantoo Cardinal is being negotiated.

For more information about Water Worlds, Contact len@ciasolutions.ca

Esquimalt Naval and Military Museum Receives New Items

By Lookout Production Aug 2022 Peter Mallett, CFB Esquimalt Lookout Navy News

A collection of naval artifacts from five former Royal Canadian Navy (RCN) warships made its way to the CFB Esquimalt Naval and Military Museum.
The artifacts were delivered and presented to museum staff on July 25 by Howard Robins, President of the Artificial Reef Society of British Columbia (ARSBC). “Everything I brought with me to the museum was either one or two of a kind on a ship we were working,” Robins said. “I looked for things that were memorable or personalized, or can in some way relate to the ship as a souvenir.” The items range from a brass statue to firing triggers, alarm bells, and ammunition magazine clips.

Robins’ non-profit foundation was formed over 30 years ago and has sunk six former HMCS vessels to form nine of its artificial reefs in the coastal waters of BC. The ARSBC was displaying the items at trade shows or using them for educational purposes for students and other dive community members but deemed they were no longer needed.

Photo above Tatiana Robinson, Curator of the CFB Esquimalt Naval and Military Museum, displays a solid brass wheel from HMCS Columbia. Howard Robins, President of the Artificial Reef Society of British Columbia, displays a sculptor’s maquette of a Second World War-era merchant mariner that was to be placed on the flight deck of HMCS Cape Breton. They were some of the many items presented by the ARSBC to the museum in a presentation made on July 25 in Esquimalt.

For more information about the CFB Esquimalt Naval and Military Museum, visit navalandmilitarymuseum.org

In the News – Sort Of
Artificial reefs in BC make for great news stories – and they provide equally great opportunities for editorial humour. ARSBC thanks cartoonist Adrian Raeside for his valuable insights on the subject. More from Adrian Raeside....

Sinking Wings
Documentary on the making of ARSBC's Boeing 737 reef, by Mega Builders, a television series on the Discovery Channel and Science Channel. Each episode looks at the people and the machines involved in the construction of large-scale engineering projects.

YOGN-82 Survey Dive
September 2022

Artificial Reefs Highlighted as a Habitat and Tourism Option
Read the article by Justin Waddell in My Powell River Now, Nov 23, 2022

ARSBC Launches the Sea King Project
Read about the Sea King on our Projects page
You can download the full pdf here

See the most recent 2021 ABIS Taxon Report on our Project ABIS page

ARSBC Goes Virtual!
Contact us if your group is interested in having our speakers present at your event – by Zoom, Skype, Teams, and PowerPoint. We will be available in person for events in the Vancouver area once Covid-19 social distance measures have been safely lifted.