Environment

MARTA rail cars succeed as haven for sea life

August 7, 2024August 7, 2024

Aug. 7 – The two MARTA railcars that were sunk off the Georgia coast in December 2023 to provide a haven for sea life are now home to a variety of critters, according to MARTA.

Divers who visited the site took photos in late July and early August of soft coral growing on the railcars and fish swimming around and through them. One suite of photos is available here, and another suite of photos is available here, both made available by the Georgia Department of Natural Resources. Photos of the sinking of the rail cars are available here, in another series provided by GDNR.

Sea life is making its home on this MARTA rail car, which was sunk to expand an existing reef off Georgia’s coast. (Credit: Tyler Jones, via Georgia DNR)

Georgia maintains a network of offshore reefs in order to attract sea life to a section of ocean that can be sparsely populated. The sea floor is relatively bare off Georgia’s coast, and the result is that corals don’t grow and serve as food for fish that serve as food for bigger fish, and so on down the food chain. The fish havens promote the state’s economy through the recreational fishing industry.

MARTA’s Board of Directors voted to provide two railcars to the reef-building effort in a show of support for a sustainable environment, former MARTA board Chairman Thomas Worthy said in a statement when the rail cars were sunk.

MARTA’s vehicles were stripped of hazardous materials before being submerged onto the pre-existing offshore artificial reef designated as Reef L. It’s located 23 miles east of Ossabaw Island in a water depth of 55 feet to 65 feet. The railcars joined existing materials including M-60 battle tanks, reef balls, barges, tugboats and other vessels, according to the description on DNR’s reef website.

Cameron Brinton, a marine biologist with DNR’s Coastal Resources Division, offered this description of the two rail cars following the visit by divers:

“The artificial reef is looking great, and we are encouraged by the amount of coral growth and marine wildlife activity. You’ll notice one of the railcar roofs has collapsed, which is typical, and we’ll see more changes to the railcars over time as they become part of the essential marine habitat for sea creatures, including popular sport fish and endangered sea turtles.”