Bikini Atoll 2011

Bikini Atoll, situated in the Pacific Ocean, is a part of the Marshall Islands archipelago, consisting of 1225 islands in the area of more than one million square kilometers. For enthusiasts of deep diving and exploration of shipwrecks it is a true paradise and a place for establishing new records. A diving center, opened in 1998, is available between April and November. During a typical safari, which is 13 days and 12 nights long, a minimum of 16 dives takes place. A whole armada of ships and many sunken aircraft lies in the lagoon surrounding the island.

There you can find, among other things, the battleship Nagato, (the Admiral Yamamoto's flagship from where he ordered the Japanese Imperial Navy's attack on Pearl Harbor ). The overturned ship lies at a depth of about 50 meters, its steel hull is approx. 215 m long and weighs 38,500 tons. In 1945 it was the only big Japanese ship that survived the war. Seized by the Americans, it was used as the a target ship during test nuclear explosions at Bikini Atoll. It survived the first explosion of the bomb detonated on July 1st, 1946. The battleship sank as a result of the second, this time underwater, explosion of the nuclear bomb which took place on July 25th 1946.

However, without doubt the most interesting wreck is the USS Saratoga - a giant aircraft carrier, sunken with all its equipment, including fuel, kitchen utensils and clothes of the crew. The battleship is situated vertically at a depth of approximately 54 meters. Its quarter-deck is approximately 21 meters under the surface, the deck – approx. 30 m, and the aircraft lifter - approx. 40 m below the surface. USS Saratoga hull is made of steel, its length at the waterline is 253 meters and the flight deck measures 270 meters. According to the official figures, the aircraft carrier weighs 33000 tons.

Bikini Atoll is one of 25 sites inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List. This is where between 1946 and 1958 the US Army conducted nuclear weapons tests and detonated 67 nuclear devices, 23 of which at the Bikini itself. Today the archipelago is a radiological surveillance site of of the United States Department of Energy. The atoll islands are uninhabited - scientists studying the extent and effects of irradiation stay there temporarily, but not longer than four months a year. According to scientists working there, full restoration of the island to its state before the nuclear tests is still a long time away. Many species of animals that lived on Bikini prior to testing are still missing. An absolute ban on picking and eating any plants, fish and drinking the local water still remains in effect on Bikini. All food is imported to the island from safe areas.

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