The WreckLife project, which aims to preserve shipwrecks around the Maltese islands and use technology to bring them to a wider public than scuba divers, has been endorsed by the United Nations Ocean Decade, the marine-conservation initiative leading up to 2030.
WreckLife is run by Heritage Malta’s Underwater Cultural Heritage Unit (UCHU), which says its aim is to deepen “the intricate relationship between historic wrecks in Maltese coastal waters and their surrounding marine environments”.
WreckLife is intended to address the challenges of wreck degradation and its impact on marine organisms and ecosystems, says UCHU. The programme involves a team of cross-disciplinary experts, including many based at the University of Malta, developing new wreck-research methodologies and publishing open-access articles about their findings.
Using an “Explore, Record and Share” approach, the effects of climate change are examined so that future degradation of underwater cultural heritage sites can be predicted and prevented or circumvented.
Heritage Malta says it has developed a range of initiatives for sharing its underwater findings with the public. Its Virtual Museum invites people to explore historical sites found in Maltese coastal waters and rendered online, while the Dive Into History 360 programme uses hi-res virtual-reality experiences to reach audiences in schools and other educational centres, conferences and through both local and international events.
“The United Nations’ endorsement of the project underscores the importance of preserving underwater cultural heritage worldwide,” says Heritage Malta. “The shipwrecks in our seas are studied as ecological islands, merging archaeological methodologies with biological research that includes sediment-sampling, temperature-mapping and light measurements.
“Scientific diving operations as well as other undersea technologies are utilised for monitoring and data collection, providing high-resolution data for unprecedented insights into the ecological dynamics around these underwater archaeological sites.”
5 artificial reefs
Meanwhile, if you thought that Malta already seemed to have a generous allocation of diver-friendly wreck-sites compared to most parts of the Mediterranean, it seems that far more artificial reefs are still needed.
Experts have been working out which five sites would be most suitable for placing a set of such fish and diver attractions, according to Malta Today.
Ambjent Malta, the government body responsible for preserving and enhancing Malta’s natural resources both topside and under water, is devising a five-year action plan to introduce the reefs at five locations within Marine Protected Areas, as well as a 10-year plan to extend the deployment.
Its aim is both to enhance Malta’s marine biodiversity and to divert divers and snorkellers to new areas as a way of relieving pressure on existing sites.
Although there have been many deliberate scuttlings of vessels to form artificial reefs over the years, only one purpose-built reef structure is said to have been deployed in the Maltese islands to date – 20 years ago at St Julian’s, just north of the capital Valletta.
A significant increase in species diversity is said to have occurred on and around the site within four years.
Also on Divernet: DIVE INTO MALTA’S VIRTUAL MUSEUM, TOP WRECKS OF MALTA & GOZO, A TASTE OF GERMAN WW2 METAL OFF MALTA, MALTA SINKS ANOTHER PATROL BOAT
