Former Navy warship finds peaceful retirement as an underwater attraction
Offshore in the waters off the Central Coast of New South Wales rests a scuttled (sunken) Royal Australian Navy warship. Now, it’s an artificial reef that’s home to diverse marine life that attracts divers from all around the world. Before the ship was scuttled, our client engaged us to help find the ship’s final resting place.
As part of the approvals process, we performed site selection, constraints mapping, and assessment of impacts. We also implemented a long-term monitoring and management plan for the new dive reef that would extend over 14 years. Our key project tasks included documenting the reef development over time, checking for marine pests, and biomonitoring using sentinel organisms (Sydney rock oysters). To track how the reef develops over time, we set up a Coral Point Count with Excel (CPCe) analysis of photoquadrats (a photographic survey technique) and underwater surveys of reef assemblage using underwater video. We also conducted an underwater visual census of fish populations, marine pest inspections, and collected and analysed sediment samples for possible contaminants.
For over a decade now, we have reported and assessed our work in accordance with the Commonwealth Sea Dumping Permit Conditions.
At a Glance
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Kate Reeds, Practice Lead – Marine and Aquatic Ecology
As ecology practitioners, it’s our job to drive change and create solutions that reduce impact on our rivers, estuaries, and oceans.
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