THE KRAKEN REVISITED:  New life springs from rust 
and decay. Details ahead on Passport to Texas.

This is Passport to Texas

Early in 2017, Texas Parks and Wildlife’s Artificial Reef 
Program created a new underwater oasis for marine life 
by using a 371-foot cargo ship called The Kraken; sunk 
about 65 miles off the coast of Galveston.  

[SFX…underwater sounds]

Seven months after sending the Kraken to the gulf sea 
floor, biologists returned to investigate what has become 
one of the state’s largest artificial reefs.

03—What we’re going to see, we don’t know until we get down there.

Dale Shively oversees the artificial reef program for Texas 
Parks and Wildlife.

07—It only takes them a few months to get a significant amount of 
marine growth. [Chris Ledford] There’s a lot of fish on that ship.  

TPW artificial reef specialist Chris Ledford says prior to 
reefing the Kraken, biologists witnessed a couple of 
sharks in the area, but no reef species. And now it’s 
teeming with marine life.  

16—I wasn’t expecting it to proliferate that much, that quickly after 
sinking. Considering the ship has only been down here for 6 months, 
it’s got a lot a lot of productivity going on. We’re really happy with the 
way its progressing. I don’t think it really could have gone any better 
than what it’s showing up to be. It looks great. It’s really cool.

See the reefing of The Kraken, and the results, on 
the TPW TV series on PBS the week of October 6. 
The new season of this award-winning series 
begins the week of October 13. Check your local 
listings.

For Texas Parks and Wildlife…I’m Cecilia Nasti. 



Total sound bite time:		      0:26.0
Maximum Script time:		      0:49.0           Suggested show time: 85.0 = 1:25