National Geographic reports that shipworms are nibbling upon the Baltic Sea’s well-preserved shipwrecks, nom-ing them into oblivion. The shipworm is actually a wood-boring mollusc, Teredo navalis, which is able to live solely upon wood with the aid of wood-digesting symbiotic bacteria. (How many times can I say “wood”? Never mind, please insert “Got Wood” joke here.)
Changes in the salinity of the Baltic Sea has allowed Teredo to move in and feast upon a shipwreck bounty, potentially destroying everything from Viking ships to 17th century Swedish warships. There is only one solution – millions of tiny SCUBA-certified Vikings.
And I recommend everyone check out this PLoS One paper on the genome of Teredinobacter turnerae, one of the symbionts found in shipworms.
http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi%2F10.1371%2Fjournal.pone.0006085
Imagine the tiny scuba-diving viking chanties!
Cool picture! I’ve never heard of a symbiotic relationship between a mollusc and bateria like this before. Super sweet!