Called “ticking time bombs,” millions of tonnes of unexploded munitions and other relics of WWII lie at the bottom of all our European seas. In an attempt to demilitarise Europe, around 40,000 tonnes of chemical weapons were dumped into the Baltic Sea alone, according to HELCOM.

Today, the war in Ukraine is threatening the Black Sea once again, exacerbating an already complicated situation.

In this episode of Ocean Calls, Euronews science reporter Jeremy Wilks and his guests will discuss the complicated legacy of WWII and explore whether we can help save the Black Sea or at least make future clean-up efforts a bit easier to manage.

At the end of the episode, you’ll hear a mysterious tale of the oldest and best-preserved shipwreck ever found, thanks to the unique properties of the Black Sea.

Follow these links to read more about our guests:

Jens Greinert, head of the Deep Sea Monitoring Research Unit at the GEOMAR Helmholtz Centre for Ocean Research in Kiel: https://twitter.com/GEOMAR_en

Markus Helavuori, professional secretary at the Baltic Marine Environment Protection Commission (HELCOM): https://twitter.com/MHelavuori

Mikhail Son, deputy director of the Institute of Marine Biology of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine: https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Mikhail-Son

Viktor Komorin, head of the Ukrainian Scientific Centre for Marine Ecology: https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Viktor-Komorin

Rodrigo Pacheco-Ruiz, marine archaeologist at The National Museum of the Royal Navy:
https://twitter.com/RPachecoRuizSea
https://www.southampton.ac.uk/research/institutes-centres/centre-for-maritime-archaeology/black-sea-map

#OceanCalls is produced in partnership with the European Commission’s Directorate-General for Maritime Affairs and Fisheries.

————————————————————

Join this channel to get access to perks:
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCSrZ3UV4jOidv8ppoVuvW9Q/join

Watch our LIVE here: https://www.youtube.com/c/euronews/live

Subscribe to our NoComment channel: https://www.youtube.com/c/nocommenttv?sub_confirmation=1

Follow us on all platforms and on all devices: https://www.euronews.com/follow-us

Euronews is available on YouTube in 12 languages: https://www.youtube.com/user/euronewsnetwork/channels

Download our new app to receive all the latest updates from Europe’s newsroom: https://apps.eur.ws/8HQ4

source