Underwater German observatory disappeared

[Still Waters]

A massive environmental monitoring station off Germany's Baltic coast has disappeared from the seabed, baffling police and researchers.

The seabed "observatory", worth about €300,000 (£270,000), weighed more than half a tonne. It could not have been dragged off by a storm, tide or large animal, German experts say.

Divers only found a torn power cable at the site, 22m (72ft) down and 1.8km (1.2 miles) offshore.

It is a prohibited area, north of Kiel.

No boats - not even local fishing boats - are allowed into the area, called Eckernförde Bay, about 70km (44 miles) south of the Danish border.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-49592330

Quote

Since the racks each weigh around 520 and 220 kilograms and the cable connections are extremely massive, storms, currents or marine animals are the culprits.

https://www.geomar.de/service/kommunikation/singlepm/article/unterwasserobservatorium-bei-boknis-eck-verschwunden/

 

[Timothy]

Russian sub? Surely they don’t have only one of the ones suspected to be capable of tapping in to and severing seabed cables etc. 

I wonder if we’ll ever know how the fire started?

[justin3651]

2 hours ago, Still Waters said:

The seabed "observatory", worth about €300,000 (£270,000), weighed more than half a tonne. It could not have been dragged off by a storm, tide or large animal, German experts say

 

2 hours ago, Still Waters said:

Since the racks each weigh around 520 and 220 kilograms and the cable connections are extremely massive, storms, currents or marine animals are the culprits

So it wasn't or it was?

[Earl.Of.Trumps]

I'm kinda thinking, spontaneous underwater eddy. Link

Quote

Underwater whirlpools pose an additional danger because they cannot be seen. Known as deep eddies, they are produced by ocean currents flowing around terrain features like seamounts (submerged mountains). They do not affect surface shipping, but are a hazard to underwater navigation, as shown in 2014 when Chinese Submarine 372 started plunging unexpectedly into an ocean trench.

Either that, or it's Aliens 

[+Desertrat56]

"or large animal" 

[Still Waters]

44 minutes ago, justin3651 said:

So it wasn't or it was?

The BBC have sourced a German language website which I also quoted.

https://www.geomar.de/service/kommunikation/singlepm/article/unterwasserobservatorium-bei-boknis-eck-verschwunden/

I used the translation to English option in my browser and posted exactly what it showed.

Quote

Since the racks each weigh around 520 and 220 kilograms and the cable connections are extremely massive, storms, currents or marine animals are the culprits.

I don't know which is the correct version as it seems there's a discrepancy between the two articles. I suspect the translation is wrong but perhaps someone who can read German will be able to confirm.

[MissJatti]

Could be a huge underwater sinkhole that quickly shrank in size after

[Earl.Of.Trumps]

1 hour ago, Desertrat56 said:

"or large animal" 

Yes. It's clearly Nessie's off season habitat 

[Earl.Of.Trumps]

1 hour ago, Still Waters said:

The BBC have sourced a German language website which I also quoted.

https://www.geomar.de/service/kommunikation/singlepm/article/unterwasserobservatorium-bei-boknis-eck-verschwunden/

I used the translation to English option in my browser and posted exactly what it showed.

I don't know which is the correct version as it seems there's a discrepancy between the two articles. I suspect the translation is wrong but perhaps someone who can read German will be able to confirm.

Whoa, wicked excellent, Still Waters, thanks for the tip 

I have a new 'puter with Edge as the browser, and I could not find the browser translator. So I Binged it and found there is a translator free. It installed in seconds. It works fabulously. Sure beats running to google or some other translator. Just hit a button and the translation of this German text is there in a flash.

Danka! 

 

[quiXilver]

The ocean could not move something that weighs less than a tonne?

really...

I guess someone should tell that to the entire cities that have been washed away by large waves.

[Sir Wearer of Hats]

Godzilla.

[RoofGardener]

7 hours ago, quiXilver said:

The ocean could not move something that weighs less than a tonne?

really...

I guess someone should tell that to the entire cities that have been washed away by large waves.

Yes.. by surface waves. 

You get currents, but no waves, on the sea floor ? 

[Grim Reaper 6]

23 hours ago, Still Waters said:

A massive environmental monitoring station off Germany's Baltic coast has disappeared from the seabed, baffling police and researchers.

The seabed "observatory", worth about €300,000 (£270,000), weighed more than half a tonne. It could not have been dragged off by a storm, tide or large animal, German experts say.

Divers only found a torn power cable at the site, 22m (72ft) down and 1.8km (1.2 miles) offshore.

It is a prohibited area, north of Kiel.

No boats - not even local fishing boats - are allowed into the area, called Eckernförde Bay, about 70km (44 miles) south of the Danish border.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-49592330

 

That's pretty weird.

[toast]

Quote

Monthly sampling at Boknis Eck began on 30 April 1957. Thus, Boknis Eck is one of the oldest - still operated - time series sites worldwide.

HP of "Boknis Eck" here.

[Skulduggery]

On 9/5/2019 at 12:32 PM, Earl.Of.Trumps said:

Whoa, wicked excellent, Still Waters, thanks for the tip 

I have a new 'puter with Edge as the browser, and I could not find the browser translator. So I Binged it and found there is a translator free. It installed in seconds. It works fabulously. Sure beats running to google or some other translator. Just hit a button and the translation of this German text is there in a flash.

Danka! 

 

You use Bing? Woah

Anyway, it was probably current or sabotage. Be easy to clip some cables and saw through some metal. Correction: current AND sabotage. It’s possible. The current may be able to do this alone, though. I don’t know enough about the apparatus to be able to say for sure. Water is very heavy.

[toast]

On 9/6/2019 at 4:58 AM, quiXilver said:

The ocean could not move something that weighs less than a tonne?

really...

I guess someone should tell that to the entire cities that have been washed away by large waves.

The Ostsee isnt an ocean, its an (nearly) inland sea with low tide dynamics, approximately 0,3 meters in average and an average depth of 52 meters. No hurricanes, no Tsunamis and no sea quakes.

[XenoFish]

On 9/5/2019 at 10:29 AM, Desertrat56 said:

"or large animal" 

[ThereWeAreThen]

A Merfoot or Bigfin? 

I'll get my coat.

[jmccr8]

[DodgyDaoist]

Appears culprit may have been a fishing boat
 

Quote

The station was on a seabed only 14.5 meters below the surface, too shallow for a large submarine, and “while the station was incredibly valuable to us, it was made mostly of steel that wouldn’t have much resale value.”

The most likely explanation, Bange says, is a fishing trawler that accidentally caught a much heavier target than intended or whose anchor snagged on the station. The waters around the station are a protected research area that is off-limits to all boats, but Bange says that is regularly ignored. “Fishing boats have transmitters that tell them they’ve entered the research area, but they just switch it off,” he says. Police are investigating and have asked campers at a nearby campground whether they noticed any boats in the area that morning.

Divers have searched in a 100-meter radius of where the station had been, Bange says. They did find tracks on the sea floor that suggest the station was dragged for some distance. “But the tracks end, and the observatory isn’t there,” Bange says. They also found a broken piece of one of the sensors. Further dives are planned this week, and GEOMAR plans to use ship-based sonar to scan for signs of the equipment.

https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2019/09/suspect-surfaces-mysterious-case-underwater-research-station-vanished?