SS Ayrfield

A strange but lovely sight: a forest blooming on the ruins of an abandoned ship—lies resting in the calm waters of Sydney's Wentworth Point. The SS Ayrfield served as a cargo steamer and a supply ship during World War II after being constructed in Greenock, Scotland, and launched as the SS Corrimal in 19119. It was renamed in 1952.

Twenty years later, it was deactivated and abandoned near Homebush Bay, where it has been deteriorating ever since. Sydney Olympic Park and the Badu intertidal wetlands are located where the bay's shoreline meets them. Mangrove trees that love the water make up 48 hectares of this wetland, which was likely created some 15,000 years ago when the area was inundated by rising sea levels.

The rusty wreck provided the mangroves with a space to grow, demonstrating how much nature despises voids. Now that the SS Ayrshire has its own forest, it is clear how little area nature needs to create a healthy ecosystem.

• Country: Australia