A Moveable Leaf

Jared Green looks at the floating forest that has made itself home aboard the decommissioned SS Ayrfield, 'a 1,140-tonne behemoth built in 1911 as a steam collier', that can be found bobbing in Australia's Homebush Bay.

1 minute read

July 12, 2013, 1:00 PM PDT

By Jonathan Nettler @nettsj


"Homebush Bay, just west of Sydney, is a ship graveyard, a home for abandoned vessels. There, ships that had outlived their usefulness have been stripped for parts. But somehow a few of these hundred-year-old wrecks remain un-scavenged. In one case, the forest actually came on board, creating a floating beacon of green in the water. In a fascinating example of the resiliency of nature, the forest took root in the ship."

Monday, July 8, 2013 in THE DIRT

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