US 'Bomb' World heritage Site

[Sun Who]

Great Barrier Reef Hit By Four US Jet Bombs (http://news.sky.com/story/1118492/great-barrier-reef-hit-by-four-us-jet-bombs)

Unfortunate.

Sun.

[500N]

What's the issue ?

Bombs dropped in deep water.

I would have preferred if they had dropped them live and they had exploded but now they will just add to all the other WW11 stuff at the bottom of the ocean.


Greenie / anti war wankers jumping up and down over nothing.

[L J R]

Google Saumarez Reef...:ok:

[500N]

LJR

Never knew that was there.

[BBadanov]

LOL, LJR remembers our old bombing days :ok:

[Trim Stab]

Well this has been lying around on the same reef since WW2, and has been bombed many times with live rounds for target practice:

Saumarez Reef. Liberty ship wreck | the JOHN HARDING (http://thejohnharding.com/?tag=saumarez-reef-liberty-ship-wreck)

I doubt four more bombs are going to make much difference.

[500N]

"I doubt four more bombs are going to make much difference."

Four more bombs IN DEEP WATER are going to NO difference.

[The Stimulator]

Wow, what a non-story....

Now if it had been 2 AV-8Bs that had to be ditched because they couldn't land with the bombs on - that would have been a story ;)

[BBadanov]

The good things about bombing SMZ were you would 'clear' the range yourself, you would self-RSO, and no-one really knew how 'long' the bombs really did go !!

[flighthappens]

News report says they were inert - unless I am reading it wrong - so filled with concrete or similar...

So who gives a ****??? In 3 years time you won't be able to see it for all the marine growth, perfect artificial reef...

[glad rag]

BBC News - US jets dropped bombs on Great Barrier Reef (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-23394233)

"The two planes jettisoned four bombs in more than 50m (165 ft) of water, away from coral, to minimise damage to the World Heritage Site, the US navy said."

Hmm, bit of a non story IF they are truly "inert" more to the point perhaps WEBF could explain [again] the need for the puffer jet not to bring back ordinance in the first place....:\

[500N]

The other reports I read on line after searching said they were not inert.

Either way, a non issue.

Don't you love all the pretty pictures of the reef and fauna, turtles, fish etc ?
What a wank.

[L J R]

I believe Capt Cook also 'littered' the Reef with military items in 1770 in an 'emergency' situation to lighten the endeavour....no one appears to complain about that....some of his items were 'live;...and I believe still are.:sad:

[Courtney Mil]

If they're inert, they not realy bombs now, just lumps of metal on the sea bed that will become part of the environment in a few years. Hopefully no damage to the reef, which makes the whole report nothing more than a bit of environmental hype. And that's coming from a bit of a marine ecologist, as some here may know.

Mind you,typical Harrier pilots. Ran themselves out of fuel and had to jettison their load. They're always telling us how good they are.

[JSFfan]

It's hard to drop them when the range is closed and the f-35b would have solved the problem

[oldmansquipper]

Good point Courtney!:D

Good job there were no doggies, nuns or school children around at the time....

[glad rag]

f-35b would have solved the problem

What they got a stealf buddy buddy unit on the way too? :\

[JSFfan]

The f-35b has bring-back, so it could have just returned to the ship and landed with the bombs.

[glad rag]

Yeah well you believe what you want to from your readings....:ok:

[sisemen]

In Oz we have rampant greenies who are also vehemently anti-military.

Military dropping stuff on the Barrier Reef? Perfect storm and media opportunity in an election year.

But for those with common sense and knowledge - de nada

[AC3854]

They were aiming at Tasmania though ...

[500N]

As long as they hit Greenie Bob and his side kick (I'm being polite),
no one would care.

[rjtjrt]

They were aiming at Tasmania though ...

Possibly had the co-ordinates for Austria set.

[Eclectic]

I have dived many of the world's coral reefs. Several points.
1) Man has been damaging reefs on an epic scale for centuries. In the Middle East the reefs were mined to produce building blocks that cities were built from. Thousands of ships have wrecked themselves on reefs. Lots of war has happened on reefs. Dynamite fishing of Philippine reefs has done immense amounts of damage. As bad as rainforest depletion.
2) Reefs are living things and thus are amazingly resilient. In fact they can be manufactured. Put some concrete shapes on a sandy bottom in the tropics and pretty soon it is colonised by coral.
3) These practice bombs in the enormity of the Great Barrier Reef are far less than insignificant. Like a grain of sand on a big beach.
4) Recovering the bombs would be relatively simple.
5) The bombs could become a tourist attraction.

[Howabout]

As the guys before have said, this is a total non-issue. 2 x BDU and 2 x HE (unidentified, but I suspect MK83s).

They were jettisoned "safe." Hell will freeze over before the things explode.

As usual, with an election coming up, our greenies are trying to get mileage by panicking a dumb public on matters they know squat about - the greenies and the public.

As the old bumper sticker said:

"Fertilise the forest; doze in a greenie."

[melmothtw]

A slightly different take on the story...

US steps up war against nature (http://www.thedailymash.co.uk/news/international/us-steps-up-war-against-nature-2013072276429)

[500N]

The Greenies worry about 4 bombs which might cover
a few feet of coral, if it hits coral and not sand yet no
mention of nutrients, fertilizer and silt that comes down
rivers and blankets the whole reef !!!

[melmothtw]

The Greenies worry about 4 bombs which might cover
a few feet of coral, if it hits coral and not sand yet no
mention of nutrients, fertilizer and silt that comes down
rivers and blankets the whole reef !!!


To be fair, I think that if this story was about nutrients and fertilizers spilling into the sea and contaminating the reef then I think the "greenies' probably would have something to say about it.

The only reason they're now banging on about bombs being dropped on the reef is because that's pretty much what happened in this particular case....

[rigpiggy]

the iron leaching from the casings will stimulate algae therefore bringing wildlife to feed, the sand inside when they crumble, well it is sand

[West Coast]

If a quid pro quo would ease tensions, start with San Fran, Debtroit, errr Detroit or DC. Or all of them.