DUBAI POLICE has recently sent their tanks underwater. Wonder they are going to fight sea pirates or other criminals? Not at all. Dubai Police has launched two projects to protect the marine life and enable the growth of coral reefs!!

One of the novel projects was sinking 15 old army tanks in the ocean, where they will provide an artificial environment for fish and other marine life. The second project was planting coral seeds in cooperation with Nakheel, Dubai Municipality and the ministries of Interior and Environment and Water.

They had 15 tanks from 40 years ago and instead of selling them as scrap, the authorities decided to send them under water to serve as a "home" for marine life. This is after taking all the proper environmental procedures of removing parts like plastic pipes and oils that may harm marine life. Even the wheels, axles, engines etc where some oil could be present have been removed and only the shells of the tanks have been submerged.

The tanks have been placed on the sea bed near Dubai's World Islands. Cranes were used to sink the tanks, which are now the lovely homes for the fish. Even big fish will get plentiful supply of smaller fish,that attach themselves to the tanks to feed. The tanks will stay down in the sea for another 20 or 30 years. This is the first time such a project has been carried out in UAE.

The other project is the planting of 700 seeds of coral following reports from scuba divers, who had reported a decrease in coral reefs along the shores.

Dubai Police has officially handed over the projects to a marine environment protection agency.