Sunken WWII hospital ship colonized by devil firefish and rare monk seals
A shipwreck off the coast of Albania has attracted both invasive species and provided a home for endangered ones, leading researchers to weigh the risks and benefits of these wrecks for local ecosystems.
Off the coast of Albania, the sunken World War II hospital ship known as the Po has become an unexpected habitat for invasive devil firefish and rare Mediterranean monk seals, according to research published in the journal Frontiers in Ocean Sustainability on July 27. Sunk in 1941 after a British torpedo struck it during the Greco-Italian War, the Po now serves as an artificial reef, with over 80% of its surface covered in marine life.
Researchers from the University of Ferrara in Italy discovered that the wreck is attracting the invasive devil firefish (Pterois miles), which are native to the West Indian Ocean and Red Sea but have been observed as far away as Albania. The study also found 28 other fish species, egg clusters of the Ommastrephidae family of squid, and even the rare Mediterranean monk seal, which had not been seen in the Vlora Bay area since 1996.
Dr. Simone Modugno, a biologist and scientific diver involved in the study, attributes the presence of these species to climate change, which is causing tropical and invasive organisms to migrate to temperate waters. She warns that the devil firefish population is expected to dramatically increase within the next decade, and the monk seal population is facing new threats due to human activities.
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