Model of navy helicopter to be added to artificial reef in B.C.
A group that transforms decommissioned ships into new marine habitats is hoping to expand one of its artificial reefs north of Vancouver.
The Artificial Reef Society of British Columbia has commissioned a full-scale model of a Sea King helicopter to be built and the lowered 70 feet below the ocean surface onto the flight deck of the HMCS Annapolis.
"It creates (a) vertical habitat as opposed to building stuff on the bottom," said Rick Wall, vice president of the Artificial Reef Society.
"It's creating, like, a cliff face so you get different species that colonize at different heights on the ship," he said.
The Annapolis, a former navy destroyer, was decommissioned in 1996. The Artificial Reef Society then arranged to have the ship submerged in Halkett Bay, B.C. in 2015.
Now the Annapolis is home to over 100 species of sea life, from algae to octopuses.
An interior portion of the artificial reef is shown: (Artificial Reef Society of British Columbia)
"(It can) re-establish the total marine environment so that you get a mix of species coming and you create the whole food chain from the bottom feeders right up to things like salmon and rockfish,” said Wall.
"Rockfish have been, in particular, a success story with what we’ve seen on Annapolis – as have the shrimp," he said. "There’s species of shrimp that they haven’t seen anywhere else in Halkett Bay, for instance."
The group chose the Sea King to accompany the Annapolis because it flew off the warship during its service years. The Annapolis was also the first destroyer on the west coast with an assigned helicopter.
The last Royal Canadian Air Force Sea King helicopters were decommissioned in 2018.
The Artificial Reef Society hopes to move ahead on this project in the spring, pending approval from BC Parks.
The Society started in 1991, and now has 9 vessels acting as artificial reefs in the Salish Sea.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
MPP Sarah Jama asked to leave Ontario legislature for wearing keffiyeh
MPP Sarah Jama was asked to leave the Legislative Assembly of Ontario by House Speaker Ted Arnott on Thursday for wearing a keffiyeh, a garment which has been banned at Queen’s Park.
Mountain guide dies after falling into a crevasse in Banff National Park
A man who fell into a crevasse while leading a backcountry ski group deep in the Canadian Rockies has died.
2 teens charged in Halifax homicide: police
Two teenagers have been charged with second-degree murder in connection to an alleged homicide near the Halifax Shopping Centre earlier this week.
'Deep ignorance': Calls for Manitoba trustee to resign sparked after comments about Indigenous people and reconciliation
A rural Manitoba school trustee is facing calls to resign over comments he made about Indigenous people and residential schools earlier this week.
12-year-old hippo in Japan raised as a male discovered to be a female
When Gen-chan arrived at a zoo in Japan in 2017, no one questioned whether the then-five-year-old hippopotamus was a boy. Seven years later, zoo staff made a surprising discovery: Gen-chan, now 12, was female.
Here's why Harvey Weinstein's New York rape conviction was tossed and what happens next
Here's what you need to know about why movie mogul Harvey Weinstein's rape conviction was thrown out and what happens next.
Legendary hockey broadcaster Bob Cole dies at 90: CBC
Bob Cole, a welcome voice for Canadian hockey fans for a half-century, has died at the age of 90. Cole died Wednesday night in St. John's, N.L., surrounded by his family, his daughter, Megan Cole, told the CBC.
Humanist group threatening to sue Vancouver over council prayers
The B.C. Humanist Association has threatened legal action against the City of Vancouver for allowing prayers at council, following a similar warning issued earlier this month to a smaller community on Vancouver Island.
LHSC performs a Canadian first in robot-assisted direct lateral spine surgery
Spine surgery may never be the same for people with chronic back pain and other physical ailments.