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The artificial reef
Thursday, April 30th, 2009 by GetawayBC.com
Divers from around the world are flocking to visit the world’s only airplane-based artificial reef sunk off Chemainus.
The stripped-down Boeing 737 was lowered about 60 feet onto a seabed platform by crews led by Thetis Island dive master Peter Luckham in January 2006.
Since then, an octopus’s garden of undersea critters has made the aluminum shell their home.
From giant squids, wolf eels and fish to sea urchins – namesake of the Xihwu Reef – Luckham reports an explosion of sea life to see while exploring the wet jet.
The reef is marked on the surface by a totem created by valley artist Gus Modeste while a sea-urchin sculpture by Doug August decorates the waterlogged 737’s nose.
Good clarity in cold water around the reef enhances scuba photography.
Aside from attracting fish and other seabed stuff, the vibrant reef has also helped spawn a renewed dive industry in Cowichan.
It’s drawn attention to preserving the area’s fragile ocean ecosystem that’s home to various local shipwrecks too.
For more, visit www.divemaster.ca.;