Old Subway Cars to Become Artificial Reefs

Of the old subway cars, diver Steve Nagiewicz told the Record newspaper that "fish moved in the day they went down."

Tuna and mackerel have apparently been lured from the open ocean by the submerged symbols of life in the big city.

According to one news account, different aquatic species have found different parts of the artificial reefs particularly attractive.

Sea bass, according to a news account of Delaware's experience, have demonstrated an affinity for the interiors of the cars, and flat fish have flopped atop the conveyances, in the silt that accumulated there.

According to the announcement about the use of the subway cars, such underwater habitats as oyster reefs and grass beds are critical for the support of the variety of fish once found in profusion off the coast. Such habitat has receded, however, and is now "sadly a mere shadow" of its former scope, the announcement said.

According to Web site of Maryland's Coastal Conservation Association, which supports the creation of the artificial reefs, the use of the Wilson Bridge debris has been rewarding.

Marine communities of mussels, algae, barnacles and oysters "have already begun to grow on the slabs," the site said.

It said captains of charter fishing boats and sport fishermen began to report catches of striped bass and blue fish within weeks after the debris was dumped in the water.