Associated Biology
Several specific areas have been selected for monitoring based on their representative properties of the biological predominance of the site, and based on their relationship to the major archaeological features. Fourteen individual monitoring stations consisting of the predominant hard and soft corals were established. The stations will serve as a baseline for future in-depth research and monitoring. One biological monitoring station is Mount #3, where several hard and soft corals and sponges have been identified. The subsequent growth of these colonies, and any new communities that attach to the substrate, can now be tracked.
For nearly eighty years, the City of Washington has provided the hard, artificial substrate for a developing artificial reef community. Millepora alcicornis, or Branching Fire Coral, comprised the predominant hard coral species documented. Soft corals included Gorgonia ventalina, or the Common Sea Fan. Many encrusting corals can be found directly attached to the engine mounts. A total of 39 hard coral species and 34 soft coral species were recorded.
These observations of extensive coral colonization, as well as the shoals of a diversity of fish species found in and around the wreck, support the interpretation of the City of Washington as an artificial reef. Numerous invertebrate and fish species have been recorded during Indiana University field investigations. There are around 80 species of fish, 14 species of stony corals, 5 genera Octocorals, and Fire Coral. Millepora alcicornis dominate the site, but small, about 20 to 30 cm in diameter, colonies of hermatypic corals dot the remains of the wreck.