4ocean Osborne Reef Necklace and Bracelet in nature.

The Osborne Reef Jewelry Collection

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Let’s protect our coral reefs!

In the 1970s, ocean conservationists tried to build the world’s longest artificial coral reef using over 2 million used car tires. Sadly, the Osborne Reef restoration project failed and loose tires have been migrating across the seafloor and damaging crucial coral habitats ever since.

The Osborne Reef Tire Cleanup is our chance to rewrite ocean conservation history by recovering these tires and protecting the same coral reefs they were trying to save all those years ago.

Support the Osborne Reef Tire Cleanup

Made with verified 100% crumb rubber from tires that our crews recovered directly from the Osborne Reef, this jewelry collection provides the funding we need to maximize our impact and recover these tires on a larger scale

Osborne Reef Bracelet

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Osborne Reef Necklace

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Osborne Reef Jewelry Set

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Dive deeper into the Osborne Reef Tire Cleanup

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The history of the Osborne Reef

In the 1960s and 70s, tire recycling wasn’t widely available and America’s waste tires were crowding landfills, piling up in illegal dump sites, and polluting the environment. The scrap tire stockpiles that emerged were prone to catastrophic fires that contributed to significant air and water quality issues. They also attracted vermin and mosquitos that could spread disease to nearby communities.

In the early 1970s, a nonprofit group founded by fishermen suggested using the tires to expand an artificial reef off the coast of Florida. It was believed that the tire reef would encourage new coral growth, attract more big game fish, improve local biodiversity, and benefit the local economy. The idea garnered widespread public support and was eventually endorsed by state and local governments as well as the US Army Corps of Engineers.

To create the substrate of the artificial reef, used passenger car tires were bound together with steel clips and nylon straps. Then, with the help of over 100 privately owned vessels, thousands of tire bundles were dropped into the Atlantic Ocean

The problem with the Osborne Reef

The Osborne Reef was supposed to be the longest artificial coral reef in the world; unfortunately, this well-intentioned coral restoration project ultimately failed. Over time, saltwater corroded the restraints that held the tires together. Free from their bonds, tires and other debris from the Osborne Reef began migrating vast distances across the seafloor.

Now, ocean currents, waves, and storms turn loose tires into projectiles that crash into coral reefs already struggling to survive under the combined threats of plastic and chemical pollution, coastal development, overfishing, climate change, and severe weather events.

Coral reef systems are specialized habitats that provide food, shelter, and breeding grounds for countless marine plants and animals, some of which are endangered. They also protect coastal communities from extreme weather, shoreline erosion, and coastal flooding while contributing hundreds of millions of dollars to our local economies. We simply cannot afford to leave these tires in the ocean.

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Let’s get these tires out of the ocean and protect our coral reefs

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Cleanups have been slow and difficult

Recovering tires from the Osborne Reef and surrounding areas is a slow, arduous, expensive, and resource-intensive process. Despite the enormous progress made by professional companies and even the U.S.military, the difficult nature of the work combined with extra challenges like budget cuts, limited resources, and poor weather conditions mean there is still a lot of work to be done to clean up the Osborne Reef.

What makes cleanup efforts even more complicated is the fact that hundreds of thousands of loose tires have already migrated far away from the main cleanup area and must also be recovered, often just a few at a time, in order to prevent more damage to crucial marine ecosystems along the coast.

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4ocean is diving to new depths to clean the ocean

The Osborne Reef is right in our backyard, so as soon as we heard about this project, we knew we had to get involved. After months of research, relationship building, and a lengthy permitting process, 4ocean was granted the licenses and permits required to recover tires that have migrated away from the Osborne Reef.

Now, for the first time ever, we’re taking our professional cleanup crews below the ocean’s surface to help recover these tires and protect our coral reefs. Our designated cleanup area spans 34 acres of seabed just north of the original drop site where hundreds of thousands of loose tires have migrated. Our crews are currently using existing resources to recover tires as they survey the area, document tire distribution, and develop a detailed cleanup strategy.

The Osborne Reef Tire Cleanup is still in its infancy and we’re going to need your help to maximize our impact. The Osborne Reef Bracelet is made with pieces of the tires our crews are recovering and will help provide the funding and resources we need to hire more dive crews and invest in specialized equipment that will allow us to recover these tires quicker and on a much larger scale.

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Own a piece of ocean conservation history and help fund this historic underwater cleanup

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Safe dives are always our #1 priority

Each tire recovered by our dive crew weighs about 40 to 50 pounds and must be wrestled out of the sand and threaded onto a 6-foot coated metal cable attached to a lift bag. One lift bag can bring about three tires to the surface at a time. Our deckhands then have to haul the lift bag, cable, and tires, which together weigh about 150 pounds, out of the water and onto our barge.

This is tough manual labor even under the best conditions when seas are flat and steady. Our crew is experienced and can work through challenges like poor visibility, tide changes, low water temperatures, and even 2-foot seas. However, we won’t conduct a dive mission if swells are over two feet because it creates unsafe working conditions.

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Our dive crews wear between 40 and 80 pounds of gear on every dive. While steady seas and the buoyancy of water allow them to get accustomed to the weight of their gear as they enter and exit the water, they can get seriously injured if a swell suddenly lifts them 4 or 5 feet out of the water. The same is true for deckhands hauling lift bags and tires out of the water.

Large swells also make it harder for our captains and deckhands to see our divers and lift bags because they sit very close to the surface. We also try to avoid weekends and major boating holidays like Memorial Day when boat traffic and the potential for accidents are at their highest.

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In Florida, winter conditions tend to create larger swells that make it difficult to dive regularly but they improve significantly in early Spring. That’s why our crews monitor weather, wind, and swell forecasts daily and are always ready to get back in the water the very next day that conditions and crew availability allow.

While inclement weather is impossible to avoid, Osborne Reef operations don’t stop just because we can’t get in the water. When we’re not actively recovering tires from our dive site, our crews are:

* Prepping gear and dialing in on our diving kits

*Cleaning and conducting preventative maintenance on all lift bags and dive gear (e.g., refilling dive tanks with gas)

*Staying current on diver training and safety protocols

*Prepping and maintaining our work vessels so they’re ready to go at a moment’s notice

*Cleaning and processing recovered tires for product development and/or disposal

*Raising awareness about this historic cleanup and securing funding that will allow us to expand the operation

*Exploring partnership opportunities that will help us maximize our impact

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What happens to the tires we recover from Osborne Reef

The condition of the tires we’re recovering makes them extremely difficult to recycle using the equipment we currently have. Some recovered tires are shredded into the crumb used in the production of our Osborne Reef Jewelry Collection.

Tires that can’t be recycled are brought to the Solid Waste Authority (SWA) in West Palm Beach, Florida. The SWA is one of the most advanced, efficient, and lowest-emission waste management facilities in the U.S.. There, waste tires are converted into energy that powers thousands of homes and businesses in our local community.

Ultimately, our goal is to partner with an organization that can help us recycle these scrap tires on a massive scale so we can use more of this material in more products we can use to fund this historic cleanup operation and advance our mission to end the ocean plastic crisis.

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Help us raise awareness about this historic underwater cleanup

The Osborne Reef Jewelry Collection is made with verified 100% crumb rubber from tires that our crews recovered directly from Osborne Reef. From the tire-shaped bezel to the tire-black macrame cord, every detail is designed to represent the tires we’re recovering from the reef.

We encourage you to share photos of your jewelry on social media to raise awareness about the Osborne Reef Tire Cleanup and inspire others to get involved in the clean ocean movement.

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CORAL REEF BRACELET

The perfect addition to your Osborne Reef Jewelry Collection

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Maximize your impact and pull extra pounds with every order

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