Shocking results dumping two million tyres into the ocean in eerie experiment had 50 years later

An artificial reef project that began over 50 years ago has ultimately proved to be a disaster, damaging its surrounding environment more than doing any good.

Known as the Osborne Reef, it can be found just off the coast of Fort Lauderdale, Florida, USA.

The Osborne Reef is still not in a great state (YouTube/StoryRewind)

How did the idea of the Osborne Reef come about?

The Osborne Reef consists of over two million tyres, as a result of attempts throughout the 1970s and 80s to improve marine wildlife, as it was believed that old tyres could mimic coral reefs.

But as we know now, this became an environmental disaster.

Numerous groups have tried to clean the mess up, with the likes of the US military trying and failing to get rid of the rubber nuisances.

First thought up by a local nonprofit, the idea was approved by the US Army Corps of Engineers, while the actual dumping was supervised by a US Navy minesweeper.

It became so popular in fact, that tyre company Goodyear, who were responsible for a lot of the tyres provided, dropped a gold-plated tyre in from the Goodyear blimp.

But years on, the tyres broke away from each other, having only been held together with nylon rope and steel clips.

This rendered it useless as a reef, with some even damaging nearby existing coral reefs.

What is the Osborne Reef like today?

Marine wildlife has been negatively impacted by the artificial reef (YouTube/StoryRewind)

Luckily, organisations have come to a realisation in the past couple of decades that it was a horrible idea, with programs being put in place to remove the remaining tyres from the sea bed.

One company in particular, 4ocean, has joined efforts to clean the surrounding ocean.

4ocean say in their Instagram bio that they are 'on a mission to end the ocean plastic crisis', and have cleaned millions of pounds of plastic waste from the world's oceans.

Writing in a social media post, they acknowledged that 'the well-intentioned project failed', and that they have joined in on the 'uphill battle'.

The majority of the tyres are still at the bottom of the ocean, though they claimed back in March 2022: "While there's been much cleanup progress since the first photo was captured, there's still over 500,000 tires left sitting at the bottom of the ocean. We definitely have a lot of work to do."

How long will it take to clean up Osborne Reef?

Diver trying to clean up the tyres (@4ocean)

The answer is that there is no real answer.

The Florida Department of Environmental Protection has been monitoring the situation over the past few years, via its Osborne Reef Waste Tire Removal Project.

Though the last update suggested that there are still half a million tyres left, an update was due from DEP to the Florida Senate by July 2024.

It includes an estimated timeline and a detailed plan to clean the excess tyres, though it is only partially available to the public.

Figures reveal that there may be closer to one million tyres left under the ocean, as estimated charts in the report reveal that over 945,804 tyres will be removed by 2033.