Do you know how many coral reefs are hurt by pollution? Scientists say that by 2050 70% of coral reefs will be destroyed do to pollution. In 1972 the Florida department of environmental protection gave authority to over 1,000 boats to drop 700,000 used tires bound together off the coast to create an artificial reef. This reef is known as the “fail” Osborn reef. Present day 40 years later we are now picking up those tires, one by one off of the ocean floor due to the fact that they have created a wasteland of trash and pollution damaging our coral reefs. Ask yourself why are we picking them up 40 years later and not earlier?

The tires should have been brought up earlier. “All over the world, countries have tried to create artificial reefs” (Reals 6). This is because countries are trying to replace our rapidly depleting live coral reefs. Tires are used widely for artificial reefs. A tires composition means it won’t react massively to being underwater. Some forms of tires release small doses of chemicals after extended periods of time underwater. The tires would have to be in the water for much longer than what they are due to the removal now. The tires were filling up and …show more content…
“For 3 summers in a row the army helped bring up tires from the “fail” Osborne reef” (Fleshler 3). The army used the tires as an opportunity for a training exercise and a way to give back to the community that supported them. The army brought up 72,000 tires in there training exercise. They brought them up as a mission for the army divers. Some say the army could have brought up more than just 72,000 out of the 700,000 tires down there. The army stopped helping after saying that it wasn’t as cost efficient as other things were. The army brought up mainly lose tires from the artificial reef. The lose tires were hurting the environment around the Osborne reef the most. In conclusion, the military helped bring up 72,000 tires but stopped because of money efficiency