There's an old army tank sitting on a sandy sea floor off the coast of Aqaba, in southern Jordan, with colorful fish darting around its tracks. It may sound like a video game level, but it is real. According to the official Wrecks of Aqaba photobook, a joint 2020 publication from Aqaba’s tourism directorate, Aqaba Marine Park, and a Jordanian marine conservation society, a retired M42 “Duster” anti-aircraft gun was sunk in September 1999 to serve as an artificial reef. The booklet claims that it is the second most famous diving site in Aqaba. Today, divers and snorkelers still come to visit it.
From army gun to underwater home
The vehicle is an American-built, 40 mm self-propelled anti-aircraft gun. It first served in the Royal Jordanian Army. In September 1999, it was sunk as an artificial reef by the Royal Marine Conservation Society of Jordan (JREDS). Its nickname is "The Tank," and it is just 5.8 meters in length.
The photobook explains that Aqaba's authorities have worked with private companies and environmental groups to help natural reefs recover. One way is to guide visitors to other sites made from sunken objects. In November 2017, Aqaba sank a C-130 Hercules plane, and in 2019 it added a passenger jet, and an underwater military museum with 21 objects. For the Hercules and the museum, officials removed fuel, oil, and other hazardous materials first.
What lives on the wreck today
Decades in the water have made the tank look very different. The booklet says soft corals and sponges have taken hold, and schools of colorful reef fish now call it home. Its many small gaps provide shelter for shrimp, crabs, and starfish. Lionfish hunt around the hull, while damselfish try to chase them away. Tiny blennies watch all of this from their homes in the coral and cracks.
Easy to reach, even for beginners
{{/usCountry}}Decades in the water have made the tank look very different. The booklet says soft corals and sponges have taken hold, and schools of colorful reef fish now call it home. Its many small gaps provide shelter for shrimp, crabs, and starfish. Lionfish hunt around the hull, while damselfish try to chase them away. Tiny blennies watch all of this from their homes in the coral and cracks.
Easy to reach, even for beginners
{{/usCountry}}The tank is about 80 meters from the beach, and the booklet says you can get to it from the beach or by boat. It lists the depth as 6 to 8 meters, the level as beginner, and the currents as low. Visibility runs from 20 to 40 meters. It’s also a great site for snorkelers, as it is described as the easiest and most convenient site in Aqaba for snorkeling and freediving. Many divers also pop in here for a photo op at the beginning or end of a dive.
What research says about artificial reefs
In a 2019 study published in PLOS ONE, Emily Higgins and colleagues tracked how sea life settled on ceramic tiles over 13 months. The tiles were placed on two artificial and two natural reefs near Eilat, Israel, at the northern end of the Gulf of Aqaba, across the gulf from the Jordanian site. The invertebrate biomass, or the total weight of animals without backbones, tended to be higher on the artificial reefs. The authors say their findings suggest artificial reefs can boost some groups of reef, especially ones in sheltered locations. But the mix of sea life on the undersides of the tiles was different between artificial and natural reefs. The study also did not examine the tank, so it cannot show how this wreck compares.
A helpful add-on, not a replacement
Artificial reefs are not the same as natural ones, and Aqaba still has plenty of natural reef to protect. The Gulf of Aqaba has more than 300 hard and soft coral species and more than 510 fish species, the booklet says. A sunken tank just gives divers another place to explore and gives marine life one more place to settle. If you plan to visit, book with a certified instructor and inquire about conditions on the day. Look but don’t touch, because corals and sponges are alive and can be easily damaged.