It contains a large amount of debris from a century of abandoned and wrecked ships, destroyed docks, pilings, and other remnants of the area's industrial past.

Due to the dangers posed by the debris, as well as the changing character of the cities and increased public recreational use of the parks, a cleanup effort began in 2015 with federal, state, and non-governmental funding.

An analysis of the shoal conducted before a cleanup found it to be Rhode Island's largest ship graveyard, with 29 separate vessels having accumulated over the years.

[3] India Point, on the Providence side, was a busy and prosperous waterfront area, taking its name from its trade connections with the East and West Indies.

[5] In the late 1800s, the steamships that regularly came through the shoal to India Point carried immigrants to Rhode Island from Ireland, Cape Verde, the Azores, and Portugal.

[15] Research conducted for the proposal found "abundant" shellfish, including soft-shell clams, oysters, mussels, and periwinkles in the intertidal areas of the shoal.

[6] In 2018, the Rhode Island Coastal Resources Management Council created a Marine Protected Area to preserve the shoal, in cooperation with local historical organizations.

The designation creates a restricted perimeter and authorizes state and local law enforcement to take measures to ensure the graveyard is protected.

In November 2015, marine archaeologist David Robinson of the University of Rhode Island counted 26 shipwrecks, making it the state's largest ship graveyard.

[7] The poor quality of the water, increasingly polluted since the middle of the 19th century, and the related lack of marine life, may be responsible for the good condition of the wrecks years later.

[7] Robinson describes the graveyard as not junk but "an archaeological site of some significance ... the last gasp of the merchant sailing fleet and the use of the bay as a playground for Rhode Islanders.

[12][20] By chopping up debris into smaller parts, it can be easier to bring them to shore, but importantly, it also does not dig up potentially harmful sediments like using more forceful pulling or dragging methods could.