Finding Balance (Artificial Reefs)
Shipwrecks have provided us with a solution to one of our world's greatest environmental problems – the loss of our reefs. The artificial reef society of British Columbia works hard to find homes for some derelict ships as potential reefs.
The Story
Our reefs live in harmony with a multitude of other forms of life, but we are in danger of losing them because of water acidification caused by pollutants that we pump into the air from our factories. They are also threatened by global warming, loss of habitat, and a multitude of other factors.

A group in British Columbia called the Artificial Reef Society has been creating artificial reefs by properly preparing and purposely sinking old, derelict ships. These artificial reefs provide new homes to aquatic life that has lost its habitat, which in turn, creates tourism opportunities. It also provides us with a method to dispose of old ships that would otherwise be considered garbage that is extremely hard to deal with.

We meet Howie Robins who explains how their society is creating artificial reefs globally in response to the loss of natural reefs around the world. Howie takes us on an underwater journey to one of these sunken ships, and we learn how aquatic life slowly and gradually attaches itself to the bones of these ships and begins to flourish in areas that were formerly underwater desert landscapes.
The Location
