Posted on 01/08/2011 8:43:31 AM PST by iloveamerica1980
"After an epic seven years in the making, the Kittiwake, the former US submarine rescue vessel, has finally made it to her new home: The seabed off Seven Mile Beach, Grand Cayman where she has become the newest artificial reef in the Caribbean. Yesterday, the USS Kittiwake met her final resting place in the warm, clear water off Grand Cayman." Watch the dramatic sinking event followed by underwater footage that is clear and stunning. Video courtesy of YouTuber SunsetHouseCayman.
Why at Grand Cayman? Why not off the East Coast, Gulf Coast, or West Coast? We could use more artificial reefs here. Was tax payer money used or was this privately funded?
Though some object to the scuttling of warships like this, the truth of the matter is that it provides a last service, oddly enough, by creating more sailors.
Such ships soon become an active breeding ground for sea creatures and fish, which promotes both fishing and diving. And those who are capable fishermen and divers are the bread and butter of the US Navy.
A secret of the ocean floor is that, except for shallow coastlines, and including some coastlines, most of it is pretty low density as far as life goes. But when a ship or kelp bed happen, the result is an explosion of life. So in just a few years, this ship will have more living creatures on it than perhaps five square miles of desolate coast.
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