UnderSea observatory disappears - Boknis Eck

[masraum]

https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/huge-underwater-observatory-has-vanished-without-trace-180973058/

1600+ pounds and >$300k of observatory appears to have been stolen from the Baltic Sea floor.

Since 2016, a hulking underwater observatory known as “Boknis Eck” has been transmitting data on the ecosystem of the Baltic Sea. But on the evening of August 21, the transmissions suddenly stopped. Divers were dispatched last week to the observatory’s location in Eckernförde Bay, north of the German city of Kiel, to investigate. And when they got there, they were shocked to find that the Boknis Eck had vanished.

"The devices were gone,” says Hermann Bange of the GEOMAR Helmholtz Center for Ocean Research Kiel, which installed the observatory in conjunction with the Helmholtz Center Geesthacht. “[T]he divers could not find them anymore.”

All that remained in the Boknis Eck’s place was a frayed cable, which once connected the observatory to the coast, according to the BBC. The Boknis Eck consists of two large frames, one weighing nearly 1,150 pounds and the other 485 pounds, making it unlikely that it was dragged away by a storm, tide or large animal. Humans are a more probable culprit, though the observatory was located in a restricted area, off-limits even to local fishing boats.

At this point, as Gizmodo’s George Dvorsky points out, it isn’t clear what value looters may have seen in the Boknis Eck. But thieves have been known to scour the bottom of the sea for scrap metal, typically targeting shipwrecks. Earlier this summer, for instance, two WWII-era ships disappeared off the coast of Malaysia; they had contained the remains of 79 crewmen, which also vanished. According to Live Science’s Brandon Specktor, looters typically blow the vessels apart with explosives, then use cranes to pull up any valuable metals.

Whatever happened to the Boknis Eck, its loss is being keenly felt by researchers. The observatory cost around 300,000 euros ($331,425), but “the data that we collect is downright priceless,” Bange says. The observatory was equipped with various instruments that measure conditions in the southwestern Baltic, like flow velocities and methane concentrations on the seabed. By tracking this data, experts could be alerted to any issues and possibly take countermeasures. So they are anxious to get the Boknis Eck back up and running.

Police in the town of Eckernförde are on the case, but researchers hope that announcing the loss of the observatory might lead to new clues. “Maybe someone saw something on the morning of 21 August,” Bange says. “Or someone finds parts of the frames somewhere on the beach.”

Heavy, but not exactly huge.



Apparently, all that's left is a severed cable.

[legion]

This is a conspiracy that actually makes sense to blame on the Russians. They have submarines operating in that area that that instrumentation could probably detect (or they suspected it could).

[Jeff Higgins]

Wow, and I thought our meth heads were industrious. Just this last Friday night we had to have a local high school football game cancelled because the lights wouldn't come on in their brand new stadium - someone had stolen all of the copper wiring for all of the lights. But, boy, this raises it to a whole new level... or maybe lowers it to a whole new depth...

[masraum]

Originally Posted by legion

This is a conspiracy that actually makes sense to blame on the Russians. They have submarines operating in that area that that instrumentation could probably detect (or they suspected it could).

I'd seen an article blaming it on the Ruskies. It does seem like a fairly likely scenario.

[asphaltgambler]

Maybe they left the keys in it?

[masraum]

Originally Posted by asphaltgambler

maybe they left the keys in it?

roflmao!

[berettafan]

Couldn’t be a net dragged over it by a fishing vessel?

[wdfifteen]

Originally Posted by asphaltgambler

maybe they left the keys in it?

lol!

[RWebb]

Originally Posted by berettafan

Couldn’t be a net dragged over it by a fishing vessel?

yes a RUSSIAN fishing vessel on METH!!

[sammyg2]

Originally Posted by berettafan

Couldn’t be a net dragged over it by a fishing vessel?

that was my first thought. Makes the most sense IMO.

[911boost]

The said the area is closed off for fishing.

[sammyg2]

It's illegal to fish there but not illegal for scavengers to steal stuff?

[masraum]

Originally Posted by berettafan

Couldn’t be a net dragged over it by a fishing vessel?

Originally Posted by 911boost

The said the area is closed off for fishing.

The article mentioned that would be the first theory except that the area where the observatory was situated is in a fishing restricted area.

[asphaltgambler]

Ok - here's #2.............must not have been well-set-up.

[masraum]

Originally Posted by asphaltgambler

Ok - here's #2.............must not have been well-set-up.

They probably used good tires, but certainly not great tires.

[DanielDudley]

Well, a lot of horror films start like this, just a picture of a severed cable...

[berettafan]

Originally Posted by asphaltgambler

Ok - here's #2.............must not have been well-set-up.

Originally Posted by masraum

They probably used good tires, but certainly not great tires.

you guys are mixing FEWC Audis with Ferrari lore on a Porsche forum?!

Sheeee-it man you have a lot going on in that post!

[stealthn]

That’s interesting, same with the planes

Next up: Microsoft’s undersea datacenter

I blame a faceless man petting a white cat...

[dad911]

dragged away by an anchor?

[asphaltgambler]

I'm here all week......at least until Friday