Fact Of The Day – Airbus Plane Sunk Off Turkish Coast To Create Artificial Reef

Recently, the Turkish authorities have sunk an Airbus A300 off the Aegean coast. This was carried out with two aims in mind. The first aim was to generate an artificial reef that is teeming with life. Whilst the second aim is to eventually attract more divers from all over the world to the local region, to boost the country’s flailing tourism industry.

The Airbus A300 was purchased by Aydin Municipality, from a private aviation company, for around £92,600. It is rumoured the 177 foot long passenger Airbus plane, with a wingspan of 144 feet, descended into the waters off the coast of Kusadasi in the Aydin Province. This Airbus plane was perfect for the project, as it is 36 years of age, it is not suitable for flying anymore.

This type of project is not as unusual as you might think, as occasionally various boats, planes and superstructures are intentionally sunk into the depths of the oceans. These scuttled ships, planes and superstructures provide hard, elevated surfaces where algae and aquatic invertebrates, such as coral, barnacles and oysters, attach themselves. These structures then become reefs, which then serve as a source of food for nearby fish.

The world’s coral reefs, one of the greatest drivers of biodiversity within the oceans, are sadly being destroyed by rising sea temperatures. This is being primarily driven by man-made climate change. As of April 2016, the famous Great Barrier Reef was 93% bleached, with around 50% of it either dying or dead.

With so many reefs being destroyed all over the world, it is a welcomed sight to see environmentally-minded groups of people striving to reverse this distressing trend.

The creation of artificial reefs will not fix the global issue regarding corals. However, every little helps and this project taking place in Turkey is welcomed, as are any others similar to it.