The project was initiated in autumn 2011 and will last through early 2014. It has a budget of €4.5M, which is part-financed by the European Union through the European Regional Development Fund. Goals that were formulated for the project: Production of detailed maps of the Gotland and Gdansk Deep dumpsites including location of munitions and areas of contaminated sediments and potentially affected benthic fauna Assessment of the toxicity of CWA degradation products to aquatic life based on in-situ and laboratory studies Development of a model predicting the magnitude and direction of leakage events Integrated assessment of ecosystem risks from CWA dumps Development of novel, unified methodologies for CWA and CWA degradation product analysis to be used in all Baltic countries Formulation of guidelines for different target groups for use when working with contaminated Baltic sediments MODUM - NATO Science for Peace and Security Co-Director - Partner, The project with the motto "Towards the monitoring of dumped munitions threat" aims the establishment of the monitoring network observing Chemical Weapons dumpsites in the Baltic Sea, using Autonomous Underwater Vehicles (AUVs)and Remotely Operated Underwater Vehicles (ROVs), and utilizing existing research vessels of partner institutions as launching platforms. The project consists of the test phase, which will serve to choose best available solutions for the difficult Baltic Sea environment, Survey phase, which will locate actual objects of concern, and monitoring phase, which will concentrate on the collection of environmental data close to the objects of concern. The project will concentrate on three representative areas chosen during the first phase of the project and will provide a solution for expanding such a network to all areas of concern in the Baltic Sea area. Performed monitoring activities will include habitat status evaluation, fish health studies, and modeling of possible threats to adjacent areas. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e4F3BtNaiSo The Pentarius Deep Sub Project The Deep Sub submersible is engineered to go to 36,000′ of depth – 16,000 PSI or 1100 Atmospheres. The pressure hull is built of carbon fiber with an aluminum dome at the back end and a fused quartz dome at the front. The fused quartz is a man-made ingot that has taken over three years to machine from a 2800 lb ingot to a 550 lb hemisphere. The dome offers an unprecedented view – no one on the seafloor has ever had a view like this. The rest of the sub is “flooded” – water is around