VERIFIN also received 20 hagfish  samples collected from Skagerrak Wreck no.13 during R/V IMOR cruise in June 2017 (read  more below). By now half of the samples have been analysed using the same method and for same target chemicals as cod samples. All the analysed hagfish samples have contained oxidation product of triphenyl arsine and four samples have contained oxidation form of clark I and/or II.  

​Concentration of those chemicals in all positive cod and hagfish samples ranged at ng per gram level, which is just above measurable levels. These are indeed low levels, but these substances do not exist naturally and should not be present in fish and shellfish.

The construction and final testing of the sediment sampler was delayed, and although the sampler was onboard R/V IMOR during the first week of the cruise, the final parts arrived at Arendal harbour too late to test and evaluate the sampler before operation. Because of that, no ground samples were taken from the bottom around the wreckage and also the ROV has not been deployed for video inspection. Those activities were postponed to April 2018 when the second part of the Skagerrak Wreck no. 13 will be investigated.

Due to bad weather forecast for the last part of the time window, the cruise was aborted after five days at sea. Those five days were used to collect biota samples (hagfish and amphipods) from the reference position and five positions close to Wreck no. 13. The bait traps were deployed for 6 to 12 hours. The biota samplers constructed by FFI (Norwegian Research Establishment) have not been tested before and performance was much lower than expected. After two days of testing and adjusting, next three days biological samples were taken only from the wreck. Despite  unfavourable weather conditions - high waves and strong winds -  this part of the investigation ended successfully.

Fish samples were sent to FFI, Chalmers, SYKE/VERIFIN and TI-FI for analysis (read more above).

Thünen Institute (TI-FI) organised an expedition on R/V Walter Herwig III to Bornholm Deep and a reference side close to Gdańsk Bay. As planned 100 cods could be retrieved from both sampling areas. Samples were further distributed to VERIFIN and SYKE. Aim of the investigations is search for metabolites of arsenic compounds 

In order to obtain the best possible results, the DAIMON Decision Support System (DSS) will build up on a multi-agent framework called LightJason, being a high-level abstraction to model behaviour based on artificial intelligence.

Within DAIMON project there will be extensive field campaigns at dumpsites during 2017 and 2018.

At the Måseskär wreck site the plan is to repeat the sampling that was done in that area by SGU more than 20 years ago. Surface sediment samples will be taken for total arsenic and other metals. The sampling will be expanded with pore water extraction and analyzing to gain more knowledge about dissolved fractions.

The upcoming expedition will be onboard of the R/V Academic Nikolay Strakhov organized by the Shirshov Institute of Oceanology (SIO), Atlantic Branch (Kaliningrad, Russia). SIO is an associated partner of DAIMON and their participation is financed by a Swedish Institute grant.

A group of experts at SIO has more than 20 years of experience from working at underwater dump sites and has developed special sampling equipment and associated modelling tools that focus on spreading of contaminants.

In 2018 the plan is to use autonomous bottom landers from Gothenburg to measure sediment-water fluxes at dumpsites. The landers have been used on contaminated fibre bank sediments before but this will be the first time ever that such measurements are done at chemical weapons dumpsites.

Polish Naval Academy currently runs three experiments aimed at estimating the rate of corrosion of ammunition drowned in the Baltic Sea. Two ex-situ experiments are conducted in the PNA laboratory and in the Military Academy of Technology in Warsaw. The third corrosive experiment, in-situ, is conducted in three areas, two where chemical ammunition was dumped, and one where conventional weapons were submerged. For the purpose of this experiment, a special structure was constructed for corrosion research in the deep sea. The results of corrosion research will be known at the beginning of 2018.

During the September cruise of R/V Oceania a side scan sonar survey, together with magnetometer survey were conducted in the area of Bornholm Deep primary dumpsite. The survey was done with usage of the AUV. As it turned out, in southern-east part of the study area there is a high concentration of potential objects. Also, strong magnetic peaks were recorded here. A ROV mission was deployed to conduct a visual inspection of the selected target. In the opinion of experts from the Polish Naval Academy, this object may be a KC-250 bomb. Sediment samples were collected in close proximity to the target. During the next cruise of R/V Oceania in October a passive sampler was be placed near the bomb to collect more data. A smeary substance was observed inside the body. The chemical analysis of the samples taken near the find will show whether it is sulfur mustard.

In cooperation with the TI-FI (Thünen Institute) AWI has authored an application to test the three-spined sticklebacks (Gasterosteus aculeatus) in a lab exposure system. Once the permission will be given AWI and TI-FI will start stickleback exposure experiments in AWI laboratories in Jan/Feb 2018...