A New Kind of Artificial Reef

Divers are often reminded not to leave anything
 but bubbles behind, but Indonesian artist Teguh Ostenrik has a good reason for breaking this rule.

Ostenrik has created sculptures of scrap steel that will be anchored to a dead coral reef and connected to a low-voltage electrical current coming from a floating solar panel.

“The [electrification] will cause minerals in the water to form and adhere to the sculpture,” says Delphine Robbe, reef-restoration specialist at Gili Eco Trust, a consultant for the project. “Live coral fragments are then transplanted from other reefs, and because the Biorock is so similar to natural coral-reef material, a new garden grows, often at two to six times the rate of a natural reef.”

A few hours after the installation, fish will seek shelter in the reef, and the electricity offers the best water quality for them to live in.

“After a few months, you can see the growth of limestone on the steel and the corals cementing onto the limestone,” says Ostenrik. “That’s when the reef is restored: When stable and strong pieces of corals are ready to grow onto their new substrate.”