Californian marine biologists have been exploring some of the ocean's newest, and most beautiful places, as disused oil rigs off of the state's coast are now finally blooming into underwater havens for a vast amount of marine life.
Although the transforming of old rigs to reefs is general practice around the Gulf of Mexico, in California, biologists are working ha
rd to increase awareness of the value of rigs as a home for many different species of underwater creature. One main factor is the discovery that much of the marine life that is being found at the rigs has originated there, rather than just attaching itself to the sumbersed structure.
“They are more productive than coral reefs, more productive than estuaries,” said Milton Love, a professor of marine biology at the University of California Santa Barbara. “It just turns out by chance that platforms have a lot of animals that are growing really quickly.”
Now that the positive effects on sealife is being confirmed, the possibilities of converting old platforms, rather than just deconstructing them, in order to benefit the natural world is one that will be looked into more rigourously.
“I think it’s time for us to step outside the box and think creatively about the resources we have,” said Amber Jackson, an oceanographer and conservation biologist who co-founded Blue Latitudes with Emily Callahan, a marine scientist. “To lose these ecosystems just because they are on an oil platform structure, I feel, is shortsighted.”
Instagram Image courtesy @noaafisheries
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