On September 29, The Rich North Sea went on a diving mission to the wreck of the REM 3. This wreck has been on the North Sea seabed since World War II and gives a good idea of what kind of marine life develops when you leave large hard-substrate structures untouched for years.

In contrast to the beautiful weather above water, underwater visibility was extremely poor due to many particles swirling in the water. This hampered the research and no overview images of the underwater life on the wreck could be taken. With visibility limited to one meter, many fish were gone before they were seen by the ecologists. Fish are shy and keep a good distance from divers.

Despite the poor visibility, the ecologists from Bureau Waardenburg managed to make an inventory of the various animal species in and around the wreck. Some scrape samples were also taken to be able to identify the smaller species. The wreck is well vegetated and we saw many species such as anemones, mud shrimp and velvet swimming crabs. It was remarkable that many pairs of velvet swimming crabs were found.

The research gives an indication of the possible nature development on the foundations and scour protection of wind farms in the North Sea. The data from the diving mission on the REM 3 will be used by The Rich North Sea as a baseline measurement of biodiversity on large hard-substrate structures. At a later stage, it will be investigated whether the same species can be found on newly installed reef structures and/or infrastructure in wind farms after a few years. This comparison contributes to the study of the effects of artificial reefs on underwater nature.