The SS United States has been sunk. Here’s how life will take over the world’s largest artificial reef

Résumé détaillé

One of the world’s most famous ocean liners has been sunk off the coast of Florida

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As a marine ecologist and keen scuba diver, I’ve long been fascinated by what happens when a large structure is introduced to the sea. Within hours, microscopic organisms begin colonising its surfaces, forming a thin biological layer. Over the following months and years, barnacles, mussels, sponges and other marine life become established, creating a new habitat that attracts fish and a diverse range of species.

This week, one of the world’s most famous ocean liners, the SS United States, was sunk off the coast of Florida. At 302 metres long, it has become the world’s largest artificial reef. It is a very exciting prospect to one day dive on such a giant, and to see how it changes as marine life makes it home.

The SS United States was built as a luxury ocean liner, and its maiden voyage in 1952 captured the coveted Blue Riband by crossing the Atlantic in only three days and ten hours – a passenger liner record that remains unbroken.

As the years went by, commercial jetliners superseded transatlantic sea travel, and the vessel was retired and neglected for decades. Rather than facing the ignominy of a breaker’s yard, the legendary ship was bought by Okaloosa County, Florida, to turn it into a diving attraction.

The SS United States is a particularly enormous structure to introduce to the seabed – longer even than the Titanic. It will rest in around 55 metres of water, with its upper sections rising to within about 17 metres of the surface. This will create habitats at different depths, making it an unusually varied site for both wildlife and divers of different abilities.

It will also eclipse the nearby 275-metre aircraft carrier USS Oriskany, deliberately sunk in 2006, to become the largest artificial reef on Earth.

So what do we expect to happen? Here’s a suggested ecological succession pattern, month-by-month.

The first organisms to colonise the SS…

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