Students help make world's largest artificial reef with a flipped ship.

IU faculty and students experienced first-hand the creation of the world's largest artificial reef this past month while preparing an old U.S. Navy ship, the Spiegel Grove, for sinking off the coast of Florida. \nStudents, led by Charles Beeker, director of the Underwater Science Program; and Bill Jones, associate professor in the School of Public and Environmental Affairs; were involved in cleaning and drilling holes to get the Spiegel Grove ready for its new underwater home in the Florida Keys Marine Sanctuary near Key Largo. An artificial reef does in minutes, what naturally takes hundreds of years.\nThe ship, a decommissioned 510 foot-long landing ship transport craft, gave everyone a thrill and a headache when it sank four hours prematurely and "turned turtle" (upside down). \n"It went from floating to sunk in very, very short order," said Mark Brooks, director of training and store manager of Southern Indiana Scuba, who witnessed the sinking from the sea. The IU group was the first to leave the ship and everyone involved was safe. \nAn evacuation plan was in place and each day before work, the administrators informed the 40-60 volunteers concerning what to do in case of emergency.\nSenior Lisa Hopwood, who is majoring in underwater archeology, was on the boat when it began to sink.\n"It was just like a fire drill, everybody knew just what to do," Hopwood said. \nJunior Adam Gutwein, another student in the Underwater Science Program, was working with welding crews on the boat. He said the evacuation never got chaotic.\n"It was really an exhilarating experience," Gutwein said. \nThe students got off the boat and watched the sinking from dive boats.\n"Everybody was a little anxious," Hopwood said. "We all thought the ship was going to take longer than it did to sink," Hopwood said. \nThe students said no one knew exactly how the boat would sink since the plan had not been completed. The workers had not begun exploding the bow, which was designed to let water into the front of the ship in hopes that the boat would fall straight down. Because this wasn't completed, too much air was trapped inside the front of the ship, causing the flip. \nAnia Budziak, research associate with the Underwater Science Program, said the stern of the ship was designed to take in a lot of water because when the Spiegel Grove was active, smaller boats would land inside. \nIt's possible the engine rooms flooded, but regardless, the ship flipped and landed upside down. \n"We saw the current take it, then everybody on all the boats said, 'oh no,'" Hopwood said. "You could see water rushing out of holes and doors," she said, comparing it to a whale's spray. \nThe ship stopped sinking with the bow still 30-40 feet out of the water. While people were surprised and disappointed that the sinking didn't go as planned, there never was a guarantee of success.\n"It's a gamble. It's not an exact science," Brooks said. \nWhile every person got off safely, a good amount of welding equipment had to be left on the plunging ship. Gutwein, with Beeker and others, made an underwater attempt to rescue the lost equipment.\n"It was probably one of the best dives I've ever had," Gutwein said. \nThe group hopes the Spiegel Grove will enhance the quality of dive sites in the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary, which already boasts a number of artificial and natural coral reefs. \nArtificial reefs provide an underwater habitat for fish and coral and are supposed to take pressure off natural sites. Light, temperature, water salinity and clarity are all important aspects that determine the health of any reef, Budziak said. \nThe students were trying to "make (the Spiegel Grove) a little more environmentally friendly," Hopwood said. \nThe ship had to be cleaned up and pass Environmental Protection Agency standards in order to be a reef rather than just garbage. An artificial reef "must be environmentally safe and stable," Budziak said. She also said the point of a site such as the Spiegel Grove is to teach people biologically as well as culturally. \nOne of the Underwater Science Program's missions is to develop sites with historical importance. The Spiegel Grove is a mere one year away from being eligible for the National Register of Historic Places.\nBeeker is currently in Florida assisting with turning the ship back to its intended inclination. While Budziak remarked the ship will be more interesting if it's right side up, there are plenty of divers that want to explore it in any condition.