Photograph courtesy ARSBC

Chemanius, Vancouver Island – On January 14th, 2006 a 30-metre long Air Canada Boeing 737 was sunk in 26 metres of water about a kilometer off the east coast of Vancouver Island. A project of the non-profit Artificial Reef Society of British Columbia, the plane was sunk to create a new recreational dive reef, one of seven such projects of the group (the others involved sinking ships.) The projects have helped to create some of the best wreck diving in North America.

Click to see map of the artificial reefs created by ARSBC in British Columbia

The most recent reef-creation project involved the Oct. 4, 2009 sinking of the 138-metre Australian naval warship HMAS Canberra off Victoria’s coast, which will create a dive site 30 metres below the surface. Currently they are working on the Annapolis project.