The Artificial Reef Society of British Columbia (ARSBC) is proposing to sink a 115-metre warship off Gambier Island to create a new marine habitat and diving attraction.
"We expect to see the typical plant life moving in, algae moving in, barnacles to fill the gaps. It's a very steady progression," said Howard Robins, president of the non-profit ARSBC. "Ultimately, what we want to do here is provide a new habitat for species at risk."
Robins said that the ARSBC had been considering a number of locations in Howe Sound to sink the 2,400-tonne HMCS Annapolis, before zeroing in on Halkett Bay, on Gambier's east side.
"Because Howe Sound is as precipitously deep as it is high, we're dealing with a fjord setting," he said. "So no sooner do you think you have a good site than suddenly you're in a fishing interest. No sooner do you think you have a good site, than you're too close to something else. The choices get too narrow."
But Halkett Bay, he said, matches the society's criteria: it's flat, it doesn't have any swift currents which might endanger divers, and it's been biologically depleted - in this case by log booming activity.
But while the ARSBC has applied to a range of provincial and federal bodies for the necessary regulatory approvals to move forward with the project, the proposed reef is proving controversial, among marine ecology experts as well as Gambier Island residents.
Jeff Marliave, vice president of marine science at the Vancouver Aquarium, said that worldwide, artificial reefs have proven that they can enhance productivity in a marine ecosystem.
"Marine life develops beautifully on it, and [the ARSBC has] that really well documented: cloud sponges, plumose anemones and then the rockfish and the lingcod and the shrimp move in. So I argue that as long as it's a flat sand bottom and there's no known fish nursery that's being destroyed, that you're adding to the environment."
But Scott Wallace, sustainable fisheries analyst for the David Suzuki Foundation, said that proponents of artificial reefs roll out ecological arguments to justify a practice that's designed, quite simply, to benefit recreational divers.
"It's a way of using ecological reasons to cloak an activity that people don't agree with, and the reason why people don't agree with it is that there's no difference between throwing a car overboard or an airplane or a big ship - it's dumping of material that has no real place to be there," he said. "There's lots of great places to dive. Why dive on an artificially-sunk piece of metal?"
The arguments heat up further on Gambier Island itself, where protest group Save Halkett Bay is lobbying against the project, which they say will irrevocably alter a tranquil bay.
"We'd like them to demonstrate that by sinking this ship and by making the area that the ship is in off-limits to other [marine] park users, that that won't have a negative impact on people who are already using the park," said Gary MacDonald, speaking on behalf of the group.
MacDonald said while there's only a dozen or so permanent residents on Halkett Bay itself, many more people would be affected by the project, including Gambier's summertime cottagers, a local United Church camp and recreational boaters. Save Halkett Bay, he said, has a petition of 700 people who are objecting to the project.
The group's website argues that, "If they [the ARSBC] are successful, Halkett Bay will change from a place used by moms and dads and kids who swim, paddle, row, sail, fish, boat, camp and anchor there to a dedicated diving site run by commercial interests."
But Robins rejects this line of argumentation outright.
"I'm still at a loss and I wish someone would please explain to me how a ship that is 100 feet underwater, 250 feet from the west side of the shore, 1,000 feet from the east side, is going to interfere with somebody's campfire enjoyment in a marine park. I don't get that," he said. "So it's nonsense. It's just fear-mongering nonsense."
Robins said that the visual impact on Halkett Bay would be very limited.
"The only effect of having the boat underwater is three floats, which take up nothing, and the occasional two, three or four boats that might be on station over the weekend, either diving the wreck for monitoring purposes or enjoying the wreck," he said.
Alex Cameron disagrees. He is a qualified dive instructor and rescue diver who has dived on many B.C. wrecks and said he knows firsthand the kind of traffic a wreck like this would generate - particularly as it's just a short boat ride from Horseshoe Bay. Cameron, whose parents own property on Gambier, has written a letter denouncing the project.
"It would change from a serene marine park to having that many people, the noise associated with it, the waves associated with it, and the boats coming and going all day long," he said. "It's obviously going to cause disruption."
Earlier this year, Marliave said, the ARSBC was considering sinking the Annapolis by Pasley Island, but backed off following fierce local opposition.
"I was there and I was trying to keep the peace on both sides and give the pros and cons, but it was nothing but a con for them," he said.
