Name That……

…..Reef. You know, you can find almost anything up for sale on the internet these days. For example, you can now bid on the naming rights for an artificial reef.

The artificial reef is to be created by sinking the retired U.S. Air Force missile-tracking ship General Hoyt S. Vandenberg, which monitored NASA space launches from 1963 to 1983.

Since 1984, the ship has been among other decommissioned vessels at the James River Naval Reserve Fleet in Virginia's James River. The so-called Ghost Fleet is being thinned because of environmental concerns.

Bidding on the online auction site eBay Inc. begins at $900,000, with a reserve price of $1.3 million, said Joe Weatherby, a project organizer with Artificial Reefs of the Keys.

It's the last piece of a funding puzzle required for the $5.7 million project. ARK has gathered $3 million, but needs to come up with the remaining money to avoid losing the ship to scrapyard.

"This is for someone who is looking for a legacy," Weatherby said. "It's something for an individual or a company that is permanent and positive for the environment."

Well, it's at least a creative way to raise money, I suppose. The Smithsonian Magazine has an interesting little article on the sinking of the aircraft carrier USS Oriskany to create an artificial reef. It is actually quite difficult for some of the crew members to watch their old ship sink, even for a good cause.