Undersea Science Observatory Mysteriously Vanishes from Seabed
A German research organization is searching for an underwater environmental monitoring station that was moored on the sea bed and went missing last month.
The device, which measured water flow and methane concentrations among other things, was located 22 metres under the surface in a restricted area of Eckernfoerde Bay where no boats are allowed. The bay is in northern Germany, off the Baltic Sea.
The observatory weighed some 740 kilograms and was moored by thick cables. It was worth the equivalent of about $450,000 Cdn, BBC News reported, but researchers said the data it collected as “priceless.”
The Geomar ocean research centre says data transmission ended abruptly Aug. 21. Researchers first suspected a transmission failure, but divers sent down last week discovered that the equipment was missing and saw only a frayed cable.
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