The function of Artificial Coral Reefs

In recent years it has become quite common to build artificial reefs. The most high profile way of doing this is by sinking old ships. However lots of other things have been tried as artificial reefs, in many cases garbage like old tires have been used. It has become clear however that it is much better to build artificial reefs out of materials that are actually intended to be used as artificial reefs. However the question has to be asked why do we build artificial reefs at all?

The main purpose of an artificial coral reef is to help with the development of marine life. Artificial reefs are normally put into places where the ocean surface is flat and featureless. Since these areas generally have little marine life it is hoped that marine life will develop around the reef. This is done in large part because of the loss of marine life around natural coral reefs. Another reason that it is desired to develop marine life is to encourage diving in the area in the hopes of attracting more tourists.

Another function of artificial reefs is to help prevent erosion of the shore line. When a wave hit the shore they can cause quite a bit of erosion, especially given that waves will be hitting the shore pretty much nonstop. This is especially problematic since we have now invested so much money in building along the world's shores. There is a big need to be able to protect that investment and it turns out that reefs are one of the best options. A reef will absorb most of the energy of the wave so that it doesn't reach the shore line and cause erosion.

Another reason that artificial reefs are being built is to improve surfing conditions. The reason that a reef can be used to improve surfing conditions is that it will focus the swells into waves that are better for surfing. The idea is basically to leave an opening in the reef which will result in bigger waves coming through this opening. In general not a lot of surfing waves have been built because there is quite a bit of opposition to their construction. However in some situations it is possible to get them built as a compromise in areas where it is thought desirable to build a breakwater. The reef will serve the same purpose as the breakwater while still allowing waves for surfing.

Artificial reefs are also built sometimes to help keep boats out of certain areas, particularly environmentally sensitive areas. Boats can do a lot of damage and keeping them out of certain areas can be a real challenge. However if you put a reef around the area that you are trying to protect the boats won't be able to get into the area with damaging themselves. This has proven to be quite effective at controlling where boats go.