A staggering 300,000 tonnes of deadly wartime weapons lie scattered on the Baltic seabed.
The Baltic, a strategic waterway connecting major European nations, is now one of the most polluted bodies of water on Earth as unexploded grenades, bombs, missiles and chemical agents were hastily abandoned in the ocean following the two world wars.
Sea dumping was then considered a swift, safe and cheap solution to get rid of unwanted munitions with many dumped by the Allied forces in 1945 as they feared a guerrilla uprising in post-Nazi Germany.
For a century, these weapons have been festering at the bottom of the Baltic ocean, slowly leaking toxic chemicals including TNT, mustard gas, phosgene and arsenic.
As EU environment commissioner Virginijus Sinkevičius meets ministers from the Baltic states in Lithuania on Friday to discuss solutions, experts tell Euronews that the problem has been ignored for too long.
An ecological disaster
Chemicals released from undersea munitions change the acidity and temperature of the seawater, destabilising ecosystems. They also cause cancer in many species, and remnants of munitions have even been found in fish tissue.
Experts fear consuming fish caught close to dumping sites could lead to a build-up of carcinogens in humans.
Terrance Long, Founder of the International Dialogues on Underwater Munitions, told Euronews that more public awareness is needed to pressure governments into action.
“Underwater munitions are leaking toxins that are harming marine ecosystems and endangering our sea life. Whether you’re a staunch climate change advocate or not, this issue affects us all,” Long told Euronews
“The TNT in munitions can burn and bleach corals and create an influx of nutrients that provoke harmful algae blooms. Mustard gas breaks down into inorganic arsenic which spreads across the seafloor, killing everything in its wake. The chemicals also affect the photosynthesis of plankton and the hatching rate of crustacean eggs,” he explained.
“That’s the situation in the Baltic today. We cannot save the seas unless we accept the realities in the water,” he added.