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SINKING OF THE LIBERTY SHIP
AR-372, off of Wrightsville Beach, is called the Liberty Ship reef because it includes the 440-foot Liberty
Ship Alexander Ramsey, sunk in 1974, along with a couple of 100-foot tugs sent down in the early 1980s.
A load of scrap reinforced concrete pipe was added in 2015.
The reef, located about three-and-a-half miles from the mouth of Masonboro Inlet, is a popular spot
with anglers who fish for king and Spanish mackerel, bluefish, cobia and a variety of bottom-feeders.
“The reefs are great because they are opportunities to fish that are close to shore,” Byrum says. “Most
of our natural bottom is a little ways
offshore. If you have this desert of
featureless bottom, just sand with
no structure, nothing to congregate
baitfish or nothing to grow on, there
really won’t be any big, predator fish
around. But if you put some reef
material out there, suddenly there is
a place for the fish to get out of the
current, there is a place to live and to
shelter from predators. Pretty soon
you have a whole food chain that
is living around this reef. It’s a great
opportunity for folks with smaller
boats that can’t make a 20- or 30- or
50-mile trip.”
www.wrightsvillebeachmagazine.com WBM
Below: Schools
of fish swim
around a
shipwreck. Right:
Concrete box
culverts, seen
here at AR-366,
can be found
at multiple
artificial reefs
off the coast
of Wrightsville
Beach.
N.C. DIVISION OF MARINE FISHERIES
WBM FILE PHOTO
The Capt. Greg MicKey was sunk in 2007 at Frying Pan Shoals, 44 miles offshore, to create a memorial reef.