A joint training exercise between the U.S. and Australian militaries resulted in four unarmed bombs being dropped on Australia’s Great Barrier Reef.
The bombs weren’t intended for the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park. They were supposed to have been dropped on the bombing range on Townshend Island during a joint exercise performed by the Australian and U.S. militaries. Instead, four unarmed bombs had to be jettisoned by an American fighter jet and were dropped into the sensitive, World-Heritage-designated waters surrounding Australia’s Great Barrier Reef.
According to a report from CBS News, the incident occurred during a three-week joint training exercise called Talisman Saber that takes place every two years and involves approximately 28,000 members of the American and Australian forces.
The practice bombs were the payload of two fighter jets from the 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit and had to be jettisoned after the pilots received a message from the ground that the bomb range was clear and the mission had to be aborted. The planes were low on fuel and could not land with the bombs, which weighed a total of 1.8 metric tonnes, on board.
In an emergency decision, the bombs were dropped in the waters near the Great Barrier Reef, off the coast of Queensland. The bombs were jettisoned into 50 metres of water in the hope they would not damage the vulnerable coral that the Great Barrier Reef is known for.
As they were not armed, the bombs did not explode. Nevertheless, the incident has sparked outrage among Australia’s politicians and environmentalists, who are in disbelief that the exercise was allowed in such an environmentally sensitive area, and that the decision was made to drop the bombs in a protected area that is precious for its 1,800-mile stretch of coral reef and the diverse marine life that lives in the ecosystem surrounding it.
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