Taurus

The Taurus was a Wilson, Sons tugboat that worked in the ports of Suape and Recife. In 2003 she sank during a manoeuvre at the mouth of the Recife harbour bar and was salvaged a few days later. She was later decommissioned, donated and sunk as an artificial reef on 3 May 2006, together with the Saveiros and the Mercurius. She was the first of the three tugboats to go down, at 9:56 a.m., and took 17 minutes to sink after the valves were opened and pre-cut plates were removed from the hull. The sinking involved UFRPE, UFPE, UPE and UFC, with a scientific project to monitor the biological colonisation of the Taurus, the Saveiros and the Mercurius.

The tug had a rotating propeller inside a duct, which gave her great manoeuvrability in tight ports, and this ducted propeller is still in place, turned to port. Only a few days after the sinking, in May 2006, small creatures and a few schools of fish were already moving around inside the hull. In the first year the hull was covered by a mass of algae, which had disappeared by October 2007, when the fauna on the ship was already very varied. The hull is home to colourful fish, turtles and rays.

In the Recife area, almost every dive can bring encounters with sharks known locally as tubarões-lixa, rays known locally as raias-prego or manteiga and as raias-chita, turtles, schools of the fish known locally as xiras and enxadas, as well as passing fish known locally as xaréus and bicudas. On this coast, the best season tends to run from September to May; in June, July and August the rains tend to make the sea rough.