Posted on 03/15/2010 6:18:21 PM PDT by Halfmanhalfamazing
LONG BEACH - What's to be done with California's offshore oil rigs once they have outlived their usefulness?
One option: Remove them entirely from the ocean floor and restore the marine environment to its original state, as is California's current policy.
But marine biologists at Cal State Long Beach say it might make more environmental sense to actually leave at least some of each defunct oil rig intact.
Although originally foreign to the marine environment, since their installation, the oil platforms have been co-opted by species of fish who have made the rigs their habitat, even preferring it in some cases to a natural reef, according to Chris Lowe, a CSULB marine biology professor.
"It's basically like a high-rise building for fish, and each level actually provides another level of sea-floor habitat," he said.
(Excerpt) Read more at insidebayarea.com ...
...but the greenie and lefties will prefer fish farmed production....
What’s this? Offshore oil rigs helping the enviroment. Don’t expect this article to be picked up by the msm.
Fish love structure!
Rigs are fish magnets!
Why don’t they just continue to produce oil? Idiot enviroweenies!
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Oh that pesky reality. Always gets in the way of the loons.
LOL......... pesky reality indeed.
Looks like the only thing left to do is pass a law banning fish from congregating at the oil rigs.
Charge them with trespassing, or at least put up cameras and send them citations for multiple violations.
Could always send them to school for retraining but aren’t they in SCHOOLS already?
DON’T THESE IDIOTS HAVE ANYTHING BETTER TO DO?
A rig is essentially an artificial reef.
Duhhhhh. Every person who grew up fishing could tell you how to toss a few christmas trees tied together (weighed down with a concrete block) in the local pond to create a great fishin hole come summer. Anthing to create cover in an aquatic environment will be good for the fish population.
Oh get real. You know as well as I do that the oil rigs love the fish and the fish love the oil rigs. These people just don’t want a constant reminder of how stupid they are.
Well, I know that (they go dry eventually) but govt. has refused any new wells off the coast of CA for more than 30 years. Santa Barbara wouldn’t leak so much, if they drilled more oil there. (They have a leaky ocean floor which is why there are tar balls on the beach. It’s not from oil drilling.)
There is such short sightedness in our national energy (non-energy) policy that it is hard to keep my temper when I hear this discussed.
Well, I know that (they go dry eventually) but govt. has refused any new wells off the coast of CA for more than 30 years. Santa Barbara wouldn’t leak so much, if they drilled more oil there. (They have a leaky ocean floor which is why there are tar balls on the beach. It’s not from oil drilling.)
There is such short sightedness in our national energy (non-energy) policy that it is hard to keep my temper when I hear this discussed.
Wait - you mean - nature accommodated and overcame? Unh-uh!
Colonel, USAFR
Agreed. I’m just in a snarky mood tonight. Turning the old rigs into a reef for the fish is outstanding and is done all over the world.
I came up to look at the computer and to get away from O’Reilly and Hannity. Now I’m heading to the basement to plant spring seeds under light to get away from the computer.
My country is going downhill fast and most people don’t even understand it — cetainly not most of our “leaders”. I’m gonna go plant lettuce and parsley in my basement. :(
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