A new project has been established to improve the search for munitions disposed in the waters off the coast of Hawaii.
The latest project by the University of Hawaii’s Applied Research Laboratory aims to use uncrewed surface vessels to improve the search for these munitions. The overall goal of the project is to address the issue of the thousands of munitions that have been disposed of in the waters of Hawaii since the end of World War II.
According to researchers, the waters off the coast of Hawaii are covered with more than 100,000 munitions that are slowly rusting away, creating a hazard for beachgoers and ocean users alike.
Commenting on the work, UH Applied Research Laboratory Director Margo Edwards said:
“Around the end of World War II, there were a lot of excess, obsolete, and damaged bombs here in Hawaii. And the way we disposed of them was dumping them in the ocean. So, we’re trying to find the things that were dumped in the ocean decades ago. We want to create maps of the area around Oahu so we can tell people where there might be a hazard, so that’s one thing. But the second part that you’ll see looking at this team is we’re training the next generation of people to be able to do this work.”
