Half a million barrels of toxic waste lie on the Pacific seabed, and scientists say strange halos reveal a hidden chemical legacy.
Eerie halos in the ocean: scientists raise concerns about glowing waste barrels off California
It looks like something out of a sci-fi thriller: glowing circles etched into the seabed, some wrapping around barrels that have been sitting there for half a century. But this isn’t a Hollywood special effect. Off the coast of Los Angeles, researchers say the halos are a warning sign of industrial waste leaking back into the ocean.
The rings that shouldn’t exist
When scientists from UC San Diego’s Scripps Institution of Oceanography lowered a remotely operated vehicle, SuBastian, to explore the area, they expected to find traces of DDT, the pesticide that became infamous in Rachel Carson’s Silent Spring.
Instead, the vehicle’s cameras revealed ghostly, chalk-colored circles around the barrels. Samples showed the glow wasn’t pesticide at all but alkaline waste reacting with seawater to create unusual minerals.
What is DDT and why was it banned?
DDT (dichloro-diphenyl-trichloroethane) was once hailed as a miracle pesticide. First synthesized in the 19th century, it became widely used during World War II to kill mosquitoes spreading malaria and lice carrying typhus. After the war, it was sprayed on crops, livestock, and even swimming pools across the United States.
By the 1960s, however, evidence mounted that DDT was far from harmless. Biologist Rachel Carson’s landmark 1962 book Silent Spring detailed how the chemical persisted in the environment, accumulating in the fatty tissues of animals and thinning the eggshells of bald eagles, peregrine falcons, and other birds.
The public outcry led to stricter regulation. In 1972, the US Environmental Protection Agency banned agricultural use of DDT, though limited applications remain abroad for malaria control. Despite the ban, residues of the pesticide are still found in soil, water, and marine life today, and the newly discovered barrels off California show how its toxic legacy continues to resurface decades later.
A forgotten industrial practice
The discovery has revived scrutiny of a largely overlooked practice. From the 1930s through the early 1970s, companies legally dumped unwanted chemicals directly into the Pacific, often under government approval. The idea was that the ocean’s vastness would dilute toxins to harmless levels. The Los Angeles Times has reported that as many as 500,000 barrels could still sit on the seabed.
Scientists say the glowing rings are only the beginning. “DDT was not the only thing that was dumped in this part of the ocean, and we have only a very fragmented idea of what else was dumped there,” said study co-author Johanna Gutleben in a press statement. Oh and there still appears to be about half a million barrels unaccounted for.
Unfortunately, removing the waste isn’t simple. You see, disturbing the seabed could release contaminated plumes that spread throughout the water column. For now, the focus is on mapping the dump sites and studying microbes that might naturally break down toxins, a slow, uncertain process.
So, the “dilution” mindset didn’t work, and instead it left behind a glowing reminder that the ocean isn’t an infinite landfill. When will we learn?
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