The Ghosts of Chuuk Lagoon
Synopsis
It’s a legendary spot for divers from all over the world.
In Chuuk Lagoon lies a phantom Japanese fleet, which the Americans destroyed in two days in 1944. Since that event, which was a sort of vengeance for Pearl Harbour, ships, tanks, trucks and planes sleep beneath the waters. The munitions are still in their boxes. There are unbroken bottles of saké. Everything seems to have been miraculously protected from looters, but for how long?
This historic site is threatened. By corrosion, by the fuel which is still on board the wrecks, and by the fishing with dynamite which goes on because of the extreme poverty from which this archipelago suffers. An Australian scientific mission is trying to preserve this strange and fabulous treasure, which has become one of the archipelago’s few sources of income.