The vessel, Lisa Kim, is an old clamming ship that was in service with a New Jersey fishing company for decades obtaining claims for our local restaurants. After the long time in the fleet she is finally ready to continue her service but in a different way. Instead of catching claims she will spend the rest of her time helping the growth of thousands of fish as an artificial reef and a cool spot for scuba divers to go exploring.
This new artificial reef will help the fishing community by being a place for fish to nurse and live. TheLisa Kim will create a home for more then 150 species of fish and allow the fish population around Wildwood to flourish.
For those who do not know what the Wildwood Reef is, accord to the State of New Jersey page,
“The Wildwood, The Ocean City and Atlantic City Reefs are part of the 15-reef network stretching from the waters off Sandy Hook down to Cape May.” Many other ships and other machines have been purposely sunk at these locations with the idea that they too will be a flourishing fishing ground. It is about 9 miles away from the shoreline. Just as an added note, before any of these ships are sunk they are completely gutted. All the oil, wires and other harmful materials are taken away so that the ocean does not get contaminated.
The Lisa Kim was supposed to be placed with the Wildwood reef on September 16 but was pushed back to November 2nd due to weather conditions.
Our buddy, Thomas Merighi Jr, reported on the sinking with the awesome video below. Check out the video and photos and make sure to like our Facebook pages, “The Wildwood Boardwalk” and “The Wildwood Video Archive”
Also while your here check out our update on the rebuild of the Great Nor’Easter Roller Coaster at Morey’s Piers.
