Metallic Shipwrecks and Bacteria: A Love-Hate Relationship

TL;DR

Metallic shipwrecks support marine life but degrade over time, releasing pollutants and affecting ecosystems, with bacteria playing a key role in both processes.

Contribution

This review highlights the need for multidisciplinary studies to understand bacteria's roles in shipwreck degradation and reef-building.

Findings

Shipwrecks are biodiversity hotspots but degrade, releasing pollutants.

Bacteria are central to both degradation and reef formation, though their roles remain poorly understood.

Multidisciplinary research is needed to protect these underwater heritage sites.

Abstract

For two centuries, metallic shipwrecks have been relics of the history of navigation, trade, and wars. They are also hotspots of marine biodiversity. The degradation of these shipwrecks not only threatens their environment through the release of polluting compounds, but also the reef ecosystems that have developed. Microorganisms are at the root of both degradation and reef-building, and their roles are still more hypothetical than validated. The aim of this review is to focus on the known or suggested relationships between bacteria and metallic shipwrecks and to identify issues that highlight the need for multidisciplinary studies to better understand the mechanisms at play in these ecosystems with the aim of protecting both the environment and these sites of underwater cultural and natural heritage.