This handout photo taken on March 16, 2026 and released by the Kiel-based GEOMAR oceanographic research centre on March 23, 2026 shows a scientist taking water samples for testing after the CTD device had been inserted into and then pulled up from the sea, aboard the scientific research vessel Alkor in the Eastern Baltic Sea. Just a few kilometres from the beaches of northern Germany's Kiel Bay, huge quantities of World War II munitions are slowly disintegrating underwater near where summer crowds dive in from the beaches. The ship's crew of 11 sailors and a dozen scientists from Germany, Poland and Lithuania are spending three weeks aboard studying how these toxic weapons dumping grounds are contaminating the waters of the Baltic, one of the regions of the globe most affected by munitions and shipwrecks. (Photo by Lauren PECK / GEOMAR / AFP via Getty Images) / RESTRICTED TO EDITORIAL USE - MANDATORY CREDIT "AFP PHOTO / LAUREN PECK / GEOMAR" - HANDOUT - NO MARKETING NO ADVERTISING CAMPAIGNS - DISTRIBUTED AS A SERVICE TO CLIENTS