Dubai Police turn old vehicles into paradise for Gulf fish

Gulf News

Dubai Police turn old vehicles into paradise for Gulf fish. Dubai Police have turned 15 surplus armoured vehicles into a seafloor paradise for Gulf fish.See more at: http://gulfnews.com/gntv

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00:00Dubai police have turned old, tired surplus vehicles into a seafloor paradise for exotic

00:12gulf fish.

00:14Several years ago, when faced with disposing of 15 armoured vehicles, Dubai police came

00:19up with the idea to sink the cleaned, scrubbed vehicles to the ocean bed to create a starting

00:25point for what is now dubbed the Police Armoured Vehicles Artificial Reef project.

00:30After two months of research and the approval of Dubai government, Dubai municipality chose

00:36a location near the World Islands in Jumeirah for the project.

00:40Adhering to environmental requirements, all tyres, paint, engines, oils and grease were

00:45removed from the vehicles.

00:48Diving teams and equipment such as cranes from the Transport and Rescue Department were

00:52used to sink the armoured vehicles.

00:55The location was chosen because it had no fish, and in less than three months from

00:59placing the vehicles, Dubai police divers who checked the progress of the project noticed

01:04that fish had started inhabiting the area.

01:07In less than one year, the artificial reef was home to 17 kinds of fish that had not

01:12previously inhabited the area, according to a Dubai Carbon report.

01:17Dubai police are the first known security organisation in the Middle East to carry out

01:21such a plan to help rejuvenate underwater marine life and the project currently covers

01:26an area of one nautical mile.

01:29After the success of the artificial reef in 2012, Dubai police proposed the idea of a

01:34coral nursery after researching best practices in other countries.

01:39The project was started in 2013 in an area of 55 square metres next to Palm Dera.

01:45Dubai police tried different methods to grow the coral, including ropes, coral trees and

01:50environmentally friendly frames.

01:53All the frames and the equipment used for the project were manufactured at Dubai police

01:57workshops.

01:58In the first phase, Dubai police divers used to run weekly checks to ensure the coral was

02:02adapting to its new environment.

02:05From the early stages of the project, fish began moving to the area to feed, and the

02:09coral nurseries grow 15 centimetres in one year.

02:13Dubai police are planning to expand the area as the coral has grown and will start to overlap

02:18if it is not removed.

02:19Three new areas in Dubai are being tested for suitability to relocate the excess coral

02:24and expand the project.

02:25Noorhan Barakat, Gulf News.

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