Ever wonder what happens to retired subway cars?  I always imagined them becoming scrap metal in some junk yard, but their fate is much more exotic.

714 old subway cars are now submerged in the Atlantic Ocean, 16 miles off of the Delaware coast.  No, it's not pollution, so unclench that fist! 

Believe it or not, they were strategically placed to create a new coral reef-- and it's working!!  What was once an empty lot of ocean floor is now  “a bountiful oasis, carpeted in sea grasses, walled thick with blue mussels and sponges, and teeming with black sea bass and tautog."

This project is in response to the growing difficulty coral reefs are facing due to the world's growing population and subsequent waste problem.  Coral reefs don't just happen, there needs to be a surface upon which they can attach and grow.  These subway cars are the perfect surface, with their hollow insides and solid exterior.

As someone who takes the train regularly, I am excited and fascinated to think that my seat could someday be a part of a lush underwater community.

Read more on Cause Encounters and the New York Times.