We are happy to share that two open access books in the series Threats to our Ocean Heritage are available online now: Threats to Our Ocean Heritage: Bottom Trawling and Threats to Our Ocean Heritage: Potentially Polluting Wrecks. The books are published as part of the book series SpringerBriefs in Underwater Archaeology.

The  CHFP-endorsed Decade Action Threats to Our Ocean Heritage: a book series is an ocean literacy project led by the Ocean Foundation in collaboration with Lloyd’s Register Foundation Heritage and Education Centre. The project aims to serve as a call to action about the threats to our ocean heritage, both natural and cultural. Read more about the project on the Cultural Heritage Framework Programme website.

Threats to Our Ocean Heritage: Bottom Trawling

Jarvis, C. (Ed.). (2024). Threats to Our Ocean Heritage: Bottom Trawling. SpringerBriefs in Archaeology. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-57953-0

This open access volume focuses on the destruction of our Ocean Heritage from bottom trawling. It brings together the natural and cultural sides of the marine environment to further our understanding of the importance of this heritage, how it is threatened by activities such as bottom trawling, and provides recommendations, such as a moratorium in particularly vulnerable areas that are currently unprotected. It is a unique publication in integrating cultural heritage into a discussion where the primary focus has been the destruction of natural heritage. With a foreword by ODHN chair Athena Trakadas.

Threats to Our Ocean Heritage: Potentially Polluting Wrecks

Brennan, M.L. (Ed.). (2024). Threats to Our Ocean Heritage: Potentially Polluting Wrecks. SpringerBriefs in Archaeology. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-57960-8

This open access volume focuses on the environmental hazards and cultural significance of Potentially Polluting Wrecks (PPWs), and how mitigation efforts have assisted in documenting and preserving the history of these sites. It is an important resource on the subject of Potentially Polluting Wrecks that synthesizes previously published information that was not academically or scientifically produced. This includes numerous international studies of shipwreck databases and threats posed by world war wrecks containing oil and other hazardous materials that could spill. This book evaluates these materials and presents new analyses and investigations with modern technology that assist in locating, documenting, and remediating polluting wreck sites. Consequently, this volume calls for increased ocean exploration missions to locate sunken merchant vessels that may pose pollution hazards and site assessments to determine any potential risks.