Los Angeles, Ca
WWII-era munitions found at dumping site off SoCal coast in deep-sea survey
An unprecedented expedition to map parts of Southern California’s deep-sea has uncovered World War II military weaponry littering the seafloor in massive dumping sites off the coast of Los Angeles.
The research effort spearheaded by UC San Diego’s Scripps Institution of Oceanography sheds new light on exactly what objects lay beneath the surface after thousands of “barrel-like” objects likely containing toxic chemicals were discovered by sonar in stretches of the seafloor in 2021.
Made public on Friday, the latest survey using sonar and robotic vehicles found a multitude of discarded munitions boxes and other explosives along debris lines between Los Angeles and Catalina, thousands of feet below the surface where they were previously identified.
Among the items discovered were depth charges typically used to attack submarines, Hedgehog and Mark 9 depth charges, and Mark 1 smoke floats, which are chemical smoke munitions that were often used by warships to conceal their movements.
Researchers say that these were likely discarded by Navy warships headed back to port — a practice that military officials confirmed was common in years past.
In a statement to the Scripps team, U.S. Navy officials said that “disposal of munitions at sea at this location was approved at that time to ensure safe disposal when naval vessels returned to U.S. port.” They added that officials are reviewing the findings to determine “the best path forward to ensure that the risk to human health and the environment is managed appropriately.”
These findings, scientists explained, are an important milestone in the exhaustive efforts to better understand the impacts of industrial dumping into the waters off the Southern California coast between the 1930s and 1970s, leading to a presence of the pesticide DDT that has plagued marine life in the area.
“This is a really interesting piece of work, because what it demonstrated or what it validated is that in fact there aren’t a huge, vast quantity of barrels down there — at least not what we were thinking,” Brice Simmons, a marine biologist with Scripps, said during a press briefing Friday. “It turns out that a lot of the dumping was simply bulk material dumped off to the side.”
As the researchers explained, the barrel-like objects found in two of the dumpsites identified in earlier surveys using primarily sonar technology had near identical dimensions to the WWII munitions. Even more advanced sonar technology and use of a high-definition deep-sea camera helped researchers distinguish between the two.
However, researchers say it will still take time to understand how massive amounts of DDT ended up in these areas, as well as how far it may be spreading through the food chain from the seafloor.
“There clearly is DDT present. One of the challenges working in the deep sea is being able to survey large areas at high resolution,” said Eric Terrill, the director of Scripps’ Marine Physical Laboratory. Terrill co-led the latest deep-ocean survey with researcher Sophia Merrifield.
“There is a lot of cloudiness around how the DDT actually arrived at the dump site: was it in the form of containerized waste or was it bulk dumping?” he continued. “What this does right now is set the stage for understanding an improved strategy about how to sample and understand the impacts to the environment.”
Preliminary analyses suggest that it may have been through less visible pollution like the bulk dumping of DDT directly into the environment rather than through the discarding of containers.
“Our analysis of sediments are showing that bulk dumping of DDT acid waste was the norm, that DDT immediately entered the environment and was likely not in barrels,” said David Valentine, a researcher with the UC Santa Barbara team who first came across dozens of barrels — the contents of which remain a mystery.
“Once dumped, DDT spread at the seafloor, expanding its footprint to at least the base of the Catalina slope,” he continued. “We are finding that original DDT remains abundant in the seafloor today, in both absolute and relative terms.”
According to Scripps, there remains a plethora of information that its research team has yet to piece together — findings that can help inform additional studies of DDT and seafloor exploration at large.
“Our survey provides an opportunity to develop and apply analytical techniques to acoustic and optical imagery over wide-areas,” said Merrifield, an observational physical oceanographer who specializes in ocean robotics. “We anticipate these datasets will inform additional studies addressing impacts of dumping activities on the marine food web.”
The future of voice to text is here.
I’ve been testing a variety of tools that make taking notes, transcribing audio, and even voice typing faster and easier than ever.
If you have a smartphone, you’re already halfway there!
Google’s Pixel Recorder app is free and built into their smartphone. It’s excellent for transcribing meetings, lectures, and conversations – all in real time.
Apple’s Voice Memos App recently added transcriptions if you’re upgraded to iOS 18.
Samsung’s Voice recorder app now offers transcripts too – as long as you’re on their latest One UI 7 software. (Check Settings > About Phone > Software Information)
Got an older phone? Try Otter.AI. It works great for transcriptions across devices and you get 300 minutes a month free.
Don’t want to tie up your phone?
I’ve been testing AI-powered digital audio recorders from a startup named Plaud.
The Plaud Note is thin, records for hours, and can even clip to the back of your phone to record calls. Just make sure you know your local laws before using that feature.
The Plaud Pin can be clipped to your shirt or worn on your wrist for hands-free recording.
Both devices sync audio to a companion app that auto transcribes and summarizes.
You get five hours of transcription a month included, with options to pay for more.
Pricing for each gadget starts around $160 dollars.
Want to transcribe audio files on your computer?
My favorite Mac app is MacWhisper. You can even get it completely free – although paid versions are avaialble with more features and options.
On Windows, check out Vibe Transcribe, also free.
And for a web-based option, Whisper Web gets the job done.
Finally, if you want to type less and talk more… there’s an excellent AI voice-to-text app called Wispr Flow. It was previously Mac only but just became avaialble for Windows, too.
One you install it, you pick a hotkey. Then, instead of typing just press and hold down that key and dictate what you want to write.
Since it uses the power of AI, you can even stumble or ramble and it will clean up your words and get the punctionation right.
It’s a gamechanger for responding to emails fast! You get 2,000 words free each week with options to pay for more.
Enjoy your newfound time!
An alleged attack on a state prison officer by a 43-year-old inmate transferred from Los Angeles County is being investigated as attempted homicide, California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation officials announced Tuesday.
The March 18 incident at Salinas Valley State Prison in Soledad reportedly unfolded just before 9 a.m. on what authorities describe as a “dayroom floor.”
The inmate, Anthony G. Ramirez, is believed to have pulled an improvised weapon from his waistband before attempting to attack custody staff member, according to a CDCR news release.
“Staff immediately responded, disarming Ramirez and placing him in handcuffs without incident,” the release detailed.
The 43-year-old, who was transferred to SVSP in 2008 after being sentenced to life with the possibility of parole for second-degree murder, with enhancements for the use of a firearm and causing great bodily injury or death, was placed in restrictive housing pending the investigation and possible felony prosecution by the Monterey County District Attorney’s Office.
Both Ramirez and the custody staff member were examined by medical personnel who noted no serious injuries.
Officials said that the California Correctional Peace Officers Association was notified of the incident and prison staff were offered peer support services and employee assistance programs.
Salinas Valley State Prison, opened in 1996, houses more than 2,400 minimum, medium, maximum and high-security inmates. The facility also offers vocational programs and academic classes and employs some 1,800 people.
A toxic algal bloom leaving an increasing number of marine mammals stranded along Southern California beaches shows no signs of subsiding and “will only get worse,” officials said Monday.
“This week, we saw more stranded dolphins (both alive and deceased) than we saw during the major domoic acid (DA) bloom in 2023,” Marine Mammal Care Center (MMCC) Los Angeles posted on Facebook.
Recent tests showed DA-producing algae levels have increased, and officials believe that trend will continue in the coming weeks. “We anticipate that it will only get worse,” the post read.
MMCC asked the public not to approach sick dolphins or sea lions on the beach because they can become aggressive upon awakening from a seizure.
“This is a safety issue for people and their pets as much as it is for the marine mammals,” officials said.
Beachgoers were also urged not to push stranded dolphins back into the water, saying it can reduce their chances of survival.
More information about domoic-acid poisoning can be found at https://marinemammalcare.org/domoic-acid/.
The volume of sick marine mammals has also had a financial impact on the MMCC.
“Our team is working heroically to respond to every call and to rescue every animal they can. Please share this post and give now at marinemammalcare.org/donate to give these marine mammals a second chance at life!” the MMCC stated.
Anyone who encounters a sick or stranded marine mammal can alert the nearest lifeguard and call 1-800-39-WHALE to make a report.
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