# Why has someone gone through a lot of effort to carve a grid into the shorline at this location? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [August 6, 2023, 7:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-has-someone-gone-through-a-lot-of-effort-to-carve-a-grid-into-the-shorline-at-this-location/988138 "2023-08-06T07:35:07Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 18\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Saffer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saffer/32/6440_2.png) [@Saffer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saffer)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2023, 7:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-has-someone-gone-through-a-lot-of-effort-to-carve-a-grid-into-the-shorline-at-this-location/988138/1 "2023-08-06T07:35:07Z")
[https://goo.gl/maps/7Waf7BeC2vpGmYXg6](https://goo.gl/maps/7Waf7BeC2vpGmYXg6) Some parts of the grid seems to have additional human activity: [Google Maps](https://goo.gl/maps/DPYvN8qekm7ZqBtv9) Other parts of the grid look like they could be grave mounds for giants: [Google Maps](https://goo.gl/maps/9qzHGYGWohf4PqpU6) ---
**Author:** ![pjd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pjd/32/3009_2.png) [@pjd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pjd)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2023, 8:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-has-someone-gone-through-a-lot-of-effort-to-carve-a-grid-into-the-shorline-at-this-location/988138/2 "2023-08-06T08:33:32Z")
Maybe related to [this](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-these-lines-in-sea-off-normandy-coast/988033) recent post ! (ie, oyster farming) ---
**Author:** ![Saffer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saffer/32/6440_2.png) [@Saffer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saffer)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2023, 8:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-has-someone-gone-through-a-lot-of-effort-to-carve-a-grid-into-the-shorline-at-this-location/988138/3 "2023-08-06T08:43:35Z")
Doesn’t seem related to me. The grid in the OP is much larger in scale than the oyster farm link. Each patch is huge. ---
**Author:** ![Banksiaman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/banksiaman/32/3334_2.png) [@Banksiaman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Banksiaman)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2023, 8:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-has-someone-gone-through-a-lot-of-effort-to-carve-a-grid-into-the-shorline-at-this-location/988138/4 "2023-08-06T08:45:49Z")
As a first guess its land reclamation from low-lying / tidal or shallow water margins. The wet ‘grid’ is dammed and gradually pumped out as water leaches from surrounding sediment. The plots are also raised with sand (your third link - the giant grave mounds, which look like truck loads of dumped sand), although I can’t tell if that is from adjacent or brought in. The additional weight of sand raises the height of each bed and provides more pressure forcing the water out. If you stroll around on the maps you’ll see the faint evidence of where this was done earlier. ---
**Author:** ![Saffer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saffer/32/6440_2.png) [@Saffer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saffer)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2023, 8:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-has-someone-gone-through-a-lot-of-effort-to-carve-a-grid-into-the-shorline-at-this-location/988138/5 "2023-08-06T08:48:56Z")
Not sure. They have a lot of unused land nearby. Not seeing the motivation for land reclamation. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2023, 8:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-has-someone-gone-through-a-lot-of-effort-to-carve-a-grid-into-the-shorline-at-this-location/988138/6 "2023-08-06T08:56:43Z")
Salt farm? Is there such a thing? ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2023, 8:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-has-someone-gone-through-a-lot-of-effort-to-carve-a-grid-into-the-shorline-at-this-location/988138/7 "2023-08-06T08:56:47Z")
> [@Saffer](#): > > Not seeing the motivation for land reclamation. Looks like there’s an airport on the adjacent island. I can see some advantages to connecting it to the mainland. > [@TriPolar](#): > > Salt farm? Is there such a thing? Yes, but they don’t usually look like that. Here’s one in San Diego Bay; https://maps.google.com/maps?ll=32.6005,-117.108765&z=14&output=embed&dg=ntvb ETA: Huh. Today I learned you can embed Google Maps in posts. ---
**Author:** ![Saffer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saffer/32/6440_2.png) [@Saffer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saffer)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2023, 8:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-has-someone-gone-through-a-lot-of-effort-to-carve-a-grid-into-the-shorline-at-this-location/988138/8 "2023-08-06T08:59:25Z")
> [@Smapti](#): > > Looks like there’s an airport on the adjacent island. I can see some advantages to connecting it to the mainland. It’d be a lot cheaper to build a bridge over the very short ferry crossing. ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2023, 9:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-has-someone-gone-through-a-lot-of-effort-to-carve-a-grid-into-the-shorline-at-this-location/988138/9 "2023-08-06T09:11:52Z")
This Reddit thread from 2016 says it might be a mangrove plantation. [https://www.reddit.com/r/dubai/comments/544mcj/what\_are\_these\_patterns\_in\_the\_coastline\_outside/](https://www.reddit.com/r/dubai/comments/544mcj/what_are_these_patterns_in_the_coastline_outside/) ---
**Author:** ![Saffer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saffer/32/6440_2.png) [@Saffer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saffer)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2023, 9:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-has-someone-gone-through-a-lot-of-effort-to-carve-a-grid-into-the-shorline-at-this-location/988138/10 "2023-08-06T09:31:57Z")
could be. But then it is taking them a while to plant some actual mangroves. ---
**Author:** ![AHunter3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ahunter3/32/368_2.png) [@AHunter3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AHunter3)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2023, 10:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-has-someone-gone-through-a-lot-of-effort-to-carve-a-grid-into-the-shorline-at-this-location/988138/11 "2023-08-06T10:19:45Z")
Navigate just a bit north and east along the shore (after zooming out substantially) until you get to Dubai then zoom back in on some of those weird reclaimed land masses. They aren’t inhabited or very much built on, due to an economic collapse of some sort that affected the relevant housing and construction market, but I suspect the grid in the OP’s map is part of a similar process. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2023, 2:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-has-someone-gone-through-a-lot-of-effort-to-carve-a-grid-into-the-shorline-at-this-location/988138/12 "2023-08-06T14:43:03Z")
Looks to me like land reclamation. They’re trying to connect the island with the airport to the mainland. Not necessarily because of the airport. ---
**Author:** ![Saffer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saffer/32/6440_2.png) [@Saffer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saffer)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2023, 6:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-has-someone-gone-through-a-lot-of-effort-to-carve-a-grid-into-the-shorline-at-this-location/988138/13 "2023-08-06T18:09:27Z")
I downloaded google earth pro so I can go back in time over that spot. The earliest image is from 1985 which shows no grid. The next image is from 2010 which shows the grid but the boundary of the 2010 image happens to have an edge right over the grid. Consequently I can tell that the grid has been cut into (what seems to be) dry land. ---
**Author:** ![md-2000](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9d8465/32.png) [@md-2000](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/md-2000)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2023, 7:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-has-someone-gone-through-a-lot-of-effort-to-carve-a-grid-into-the-shorline-at-this-location/988138/14 "2023-08-06T19:05:34Z")
Look at the center of the smaller grid, whre a small road leads inward from the south - the second plot in, it sure looks like they’ve set up the same oyster beds on that shallow island as in Normandy. https://maps.google.com/maps?ll=24.1033919,54.006382&z=16&output=embed&dg=ntvb Fish farm is also a good guessm as the eastern parts of th grid have roadways on dikes. Close off a few bridges with nets and you have a captive area with plenty of wetland-style feeding grounds? Do Muslims follow the same prohibitions as Jewish kosher rules, which I understand says “no shellfish”? ---
**Author:** ![alovem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b38774/32.png) [@alovem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alovem)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2023, 7:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-has-someone-gone-through-a-lot-of-effort-to-carve-a-grid-into-the-shorline-at-this-location/988138/15 "2023-08-06T19:31:10Z")
> [@md-2000](#): > > Do Muslims follow the same prohibitions as Jewish kosher rules, which I understand says “no shellfish”? From [this](https://www.isahalal.com/news-events/blog/halal-seafood#:~:text=Interestingly%2C%20while%20all%20four%20major,and%20other%20similar%20sea%20creatures.) source: > Interestingly, while all four major schools of Islamic thought consider fish Halal, one school, the Hanafi school of thought, considers non-fish creatures to be impermissible. This would include **squid, octopus, mussels** and other similar sea creatures. ---
**Author:** ![md-2000](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9d8465/32.png) [@md-2000](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/md-2000)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2023, 7:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-has-someone-gone-through-a-lot-of-effort-to-carve-a-grid-into-the-shorline-at-this-location/988138/16 "2023-08-06T19:44:23Z")
It also occurs to me that unlike Normandy, the tides are fairly minimal around here from what Ive read. I wonder how much water turnover there would be? Tides are useful for sloshing replacement food and water into the oyster beds or fish farms. I suppose a major driver of water turnover would be the extensive shallows? ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2023, 5:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-has-someone-gone-through-a-lot-of-effort-to-carve-a-grid-into-the-shorline-at-this-location/988138/17 "2023-08-07T17:56:56Z")
That specific part of the Abu Dhabi coast is quite involved in actual ecological restoration stuff. The linked areas resemble part of the mangrove nursery on Abu Al Abyad island itself, which you can see [here](https://www.google.com/maps/place/24%C2%B012'43.7%22N+53%C2%B042'33.0%22E/@24.2121338,53.7043011,1020m/data=!3m2!1e3!4b1!4m12!1m7!3m6!1s0x3e5ddd5a75068411:0xe5be948236bd4445!2sAbu+Al+Abyad!8m2!3d24.2016058!4d53.8020236!16s%2Fm%2F02rqth9!3m3!8m2!3d24.212129!4d53.709172?entry=ttu); I suspect some of it’s being set up for either mangrove or coral nursery activities. You can see what looks to me like mangrove plantings [here](https://goo.gl/maps/Nujv3Z9ADs5EVEp68) On the other hand, something distinctly different is happening [here](https://goo.gl/maps/8NCJ2ivdHkHGwNoUA). So I think it’s no one thing. ---
**Author:** ![kanicbird](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/5f8ce5/32.png) [@kanicbird](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kanicbird)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2023, 6:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-has-someone-gone-through-a-lot-of-effort-to-carve-a-grid-into-the-shorline-at-this-location/988138/18 "2023-08-07T18:05:05Z")
It reminded me of this place on the south shore of Long Island NY [Google Maps](https://goo.gl/maps/8ewsunQPzY6RLSgi6) which shows many such cuts. I’ve been told that was an attempt for mosquito abatement but allowing fish to get into the marshlands deeper to eat the eggs/larvie .