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WWII shipwreck leaking pollutants has changed nature of ocean floor around it

01:56

WWII shipwreck leaking pollutants has changed nature of ocean floor around it

A World War Two shipwreck has leaked so many pollutants into the sea that it has changed the nature of the ocean floor around it.

The V-1302 John Mahn, a fishing trawler that was requisitioned at the start of the war by the German navy for use as a patrol boat, was sunk in 1942 in the North Sea after being attacked by British bombers.

In recent years, scientists have shown how the wreck is leaking pollutants, including explosives and heavy metals, into the ocean floor sediment, influencing the marine microbiology around it.

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