The Boga Shipwreck: The USS Liberty of the Future
Following the enormous success of the USS Liberty Shipwreck in Tulamben, the North of Bali today carries a brand new shipwreck. The “Boga” was sunk in September 2012 in front of the beach of Kubu (Karangasem Regency, not very far through Tulamben) with the idea of creating another point of aggregation for marine life along which has a brand new dive destination to attract tourists in an area of Bali still largely underdeveloped.
The Boga was a former 150-tonne cargo ship, almost 40 metres in length, along with which today lies on a sandy bottom between 13 along with 32 metres deep, perpendicular to the shore. After being purchased by the owners of Relax Bali Hotel (Kubu), the boat was donated to the Karangasem Regency to establish a brand new diver’s attraction along with increase the cash flow inside the area.
Shipwrecks are famous for being an “aggregation device” for marine life. At the moment, after almost three months underwater, the boat is actually still empty along with quite clean: apart through some ‘implanted’ corals, only some green algae along with sponges are starting to cover the ship’s surfaces. although fish are already interested in which brand new shelter: damselfish, fusiliers along with surgeonfish are moving all around the wreck, in a kind of anticipation of what which wreck hopefully will become inside the next few years. Two giant trevallies also accompanied me during the dive.
Corals, especially the hard ones, need time to grow up. Divers lucky enough to dive the Boga steadily over time inside the next months or years will hold the wonderful opportunity to witness an “ecological succession”, the change inside the species structure over time. “Pioneer” species like algae along with some soft corals will start colonizing the ship inside the next few months. These species reproduce at a very high rate, grow quickly, have a short life span, along which has a low competitive ability. Depending on the conditions along with on the environmental disturbance, quite slowly these species will be replaced by some other species, like hard corals along with some other encrusting animals, needing more time to settle, although afterwards they will become very difficult to eradicate by competing organisms. A shipwreck covered by branched corals along with soft colourful animals, surrounded by thousands of fish is actually every diver’s dream. which will take time (probably no less than 10-15 years), although for sure which’s worth the wait.
I have to say which some more environmentally friendly actions should have been taken before sinking the ship. Was which absolutely necessary to leave the tyres on the automobile? which would certainly have taken 10 minutes to remove them; we don’t need more plastic waste inside the ocean, along with the tyres will deteriorate in the past, releasing some very bad chemical compounds like hydrocarbons along with heavy metals. The same for the some other tyres previously; probably used as boat fenders. I couldn’t find anyone willing to answer a couple of some other questions like: “What happened to the oil along with some other pollutants present inside the ship (along with the automobile) engine? Did somebody recover them before sinking the ship?” These may seem like silly questions, although since which boat has been publicized as a brand new “environmental oasis”, I desire which these basic environmental issues were correctly addressed. which makes the difference between a very Great idea which has a bad beginning, along with an effective ecological restoration project.
Anyways, the ship is actually in a nice along with safe (if correctly approached) position: which’s worth a visit for both experienced along with more skilled divers.
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The Boga Shipwreck: The USS Liberty of the Future
The Boga Shipwreck: The USS Liberty of the Future