Think Florida is wild now? Of course you do. Otherwise, we wouldn’t be able to trade so many Florida man stories of chaos at the pub. But try to imagine Florida in the 1970s. The Sunshine State was a wholly different spot, but no less capable of some bonkers thinking. In the early 1970s, an ecological operation sought to create artificial reefs off Florida’s east coast. Instead, the initiative led to an underwater vulcanized rubber wasteland with very little marine habitat value. And while sinking millions of discarded tires into the waters off the coast of Fort Lauderdale, Florida, sounds like a wild idea, the minds behind the madness swore there was more to it than ridding Floridian ground of Goodyears.
Ever heard of an artificial reef? Building them is the reason the U.S. Navy has a propensity to sink its unwanted ships on purpose. Well, the fine folks of Broward Artificial Reef Incorporated decided the way to dispose of ugly, used, and unwanted tires while encouraging marine life to thrive off the coast of Florida was to mobilize a volunteer navy and submerge the rubber. Let’s just say it didn’t go as planned. In reality, the move was an environmental disaster with impacts that lasted decades after the dumping.
Good intentions, catastrophic outcome
Now, artificial reefs aren’t a new concept. They weren’t even new in the early 1970s, really. As early as the 18th century, people have been sinking objects with the intent of encouraging marine life. Mind you, those efforts weren’t focused on environmental reasons. It was all about the fishing. Fast forward two centuries, and fishermen were still at it, this time seeking to add to the population of game fish east of Fort Lauderdale, Florida. Enter Broward Artificial Reef Incorporated and professor of ocean engineering at Florida Atlantic University, Ray McAllister.
McAllister — one of the founding members of BARINC – gained the approval of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to create a sprawling artificial reef as part of the Osborne Reef project. To accomplish the task, BARINC assembled a volunteer flotilla of over 100 privately owned boats to accompany the USS Thrush in submerging over two million tires in thousands of joined bundles. It probably seemed like a good idea at the time, but much to the dismay of McAllister, BARINC, and the Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company, the initiative failed. Miserably. Yes, that Goodyear — one of the few tire brands still making tires in America…