Gozo News

The WreckLife Project, an initiative to deepen our understanding of the complex relationship between historical shipwrecks and the surrounding marine environment in Malta’s coastal waters, has been officially recognised by the United Nations Decade of the Ocean.

The Underwater Cultural Heritage Unit (UCHU) of the Malta Heritage Ministry made the announcement, explaining that WreckLife is dedicated to addressing the challenges of shipwreck degradation and its impact on marine life and ecosystems.

By studying temporal changes in climate and its impacts on the marine environment and using an integrated, interdisciplinary approach, the project aims to enhance our ability to predict future degradation and develop effective strategies to protect these underwater cultural heritage sites, the report said.

Heritage Malta’s UCHU said it “is firmly committed to three fundamental pillars: exploration, documentation and sharing. This commitment is demonstrated through a number of initiatives aimed at communicating underwater discoveries to the public.”

Chief among these is the Malta Heritage Virtual Museum (www.underwatermalta.org), a platform that invites the public to explore the historic sites in Malta’s coastal waters, while the ‘History 360’ initiative brings these sites to life by delivering high-resolution 360-degree virtual reality experiences to a variety of audiences in schools, active ageing centres, conferences and local and global events.

UCHU said the “WreckLife” project takes the sector’s work to the next level as it aligns with the United Nations’ global initiative for the “Decade of the Ocean”.

It added that the UN’s support for the project, which focuses on identifying critical marine knowledge, building capacity and increasing the use of marine knowledge, underscores the importance of protecting the world’s underwater cultural heritage.“Shipwrecks in our oceans are studied as ecological islands, combining archaeological methods with biological studies, including sediment sampling, temperature mapping and light measurements,” said UCHU. Scientific diving operations, along with other undersea technologies, are used for monitoring and data collection, providing high-resolution data that offer unprecedented insights into the ecological dynamics surrounding these underwater archaeological sites.

WreckLife brings together a diverse team of experts from different fields and institutions, including across the University of Malta’s faculties, to generate valuable knowledge that transcends disciplinary boundaries, develops new research methodologies and fosters innovation.

By publishing open access articles and engaging with the public through educational programs and online interactive platforms, the project ensures that its research outputs reach a wide audience, advancing marine knowledge and environmental stewardship.

UCHU stressed that WreckLife sets new standards for the management of historical shipwrecks and their ecological environment, contributing to the protection of underwater cultural heritage around the world.

Photos: Malta Heritage – HMS Southwold wreck with sponge growth and Maryland bomber – John Wood