Jul 22, 2013

Australia & beyond: USA drops unarmed bombs on Great Barrier Reef

Here is a link to the news story:
US drops unarmed bombs on Great Barrier Reef | KOMO News

In my opinion, dropping four practice bombs on the marine park is egregious, even if "unarmed" and even if it wasn't the original intention, especially considering it is a UNESCO World Heritage site. I wonder if people could have been diving or boating in the 164 feet water where they dropped the items, and how could authorities have determined that given the time constraints? I wonder if such activities impact seismic activity in the area (see http://www.platetectonics.com/oceanfloors/australian.asp); there was quake activity in New Zealand. Whether these specific practice bombs were related to last week's quakes, it is still a general question.

2009 photo of Marines cleaning and inspecting a 25mm cannon from AV-8B Harrier jet aboard the amphibious assault ship USS Peleliu (from Wikipedia)