A German fishing vessel that sank during World War II has been leaking pollutants that are changing the surrounding marine environment in the North Sea, according to a new study. The 80-year-old shipwreck is the V-1302 John Mahn, a fishing trawler that was used as a German patrol boat in WWII. The pollutants found in samples from the ocean floor included various heavy metals, including nickel and copper. "Although we don't see these old shipwrecks, and many of us don't know where they are, they can still be polluting our marine ecosystem," Van Landuyt said in the statement. The V-1302 John Mahn research is part of an initiative called the North Sea Wrecks project, which is studying the seabeds around shipwrecks off the Belgian coast.

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