French WWI Submarine Discovered Off Tunisia

An image grab taken from a handout video obtained from the Ras Adar diving club on October 8, 2020 in the coastal area of La Marsa on the outskirts of the Tunisia capital Tunis shows the wreck of French submarine Ariane that was torpedoed and sunk in the Mediterranean Sea off Cap Bon in 1917 by a German submarine. (Photo by - / CLUB DE PLONGÉE RAS ADAR / AFP)
An image grab taken from a handout video obtained from the Ras Adar diving club on October 8, 2020 in the coastal area of La Marsa on the outskirts of the Tunisia capital Tunis shows the wreck of French submarine Ariane that was torpedoed and sunk in the Mediterranean Sea off Cap Bon in 1917 by a German submarine. (Photo by - / CLUB DE PLONGÉE RAS ADAR / AFP)
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French WWI Submarine Discovered Off Tunisia

An image grab taken from a handout video obtained from the Ras Adar diving club on October 8, 2020 in the coastal area of La Marsa on the outskirts of the Tunisia capital Tunis shows the wreck of French submarine Ariane that was torpedoed and sunk in the Mediterranean Sea off Cap Bon in 1917 by a German submarine. (Photo by - / CLUB DE PLONGÉE RAS ADAR / AFP)
An image grab taken from a handout video obtained from the Ras Adar diving club on October 8, 2020 in the coastal area of La Marsa on the outskirts of the Tunisia capital Tunis shows the wreck of French submarine Ariane that was torpedoed and sunk in the Mediterranean Sea off Cap Bon in 1917 by a German submarine. (Photo by - / CLUB DE PLONGÉE RAS ADAR / AFP)

Tunisian divers have discovered a French submarine wreck from World War I, the Ariane, which was sunk by a German submarine in 1917.

The craft was spotted off Cap Bon by the managers of a diving club in the country's northeast as they were exploring new sites to explore with their students.

"We knew they were wrecks but we didn't know what we were going to find," said the diving director of the Ras Adar club, Selim Baccar.

"On the first dive, we came across the submarine."

The almost intact wreck is covered in algae, its hatches and periscope now home to fish and crustaceans., AFP reported.

After questioning several experts, the club deduced it could only be the Ariane, which was based in Bizerte, at the time a French port in northern Tunisia.

"This is the third submarine found in Tunisia, and the only one from the First World War. It's exciting, as if a history book has come to life," said Baccar.

"We came across military reports detailing minute by minute everything that was happening in the Mediterranean. And when we go back to that situation, I say to myself that I'm glad I didn't experience a war."

During the First World War, German submarines wreaked havoc off the Tunisian coast, where they were initially deployed to cut the Allies off from their reinforcements of men and provisions from the French colonies, said historian Ali Ait Mihoub, from Manouba university.

About 80,000 Tunisians were mobilized to fight or work in French factories during WWI, he told AFP.

The Ariane was torpedoed by a German U-Boat while still on the surface, and only eight of the 29 crew could be saved, according AGASM, a French association of former submarine operators.

"It is not common to find wrecks of submarines, especially from the First World War, because we don't know exactly where they sank," said Admiral Dominique Salles, president of the group.

Submarines, which played a decisive role for the first time during WWI, then provided very basic comfort.

The French submarines, which originally had neither bunks nor toilets, were submersibles that remained mostly on the surface, says the Encyclopedia of French Submarines.

They would only dive for a few hours at a time, for attacks, during which men and food were piled up in a suffocating engine room.



Greece to Create New Marine Reserves to Protect Underwater Wildlife

Greece banned bottom trawling in the waters of the Fournoi Korseon island chain in the Aegean to protect recently discovered coral reefs. Handout / Under the Pole/AFP
Greece banned bottom trawling in the waters of the Fournoi Korseon island chain in the Aegean to protect recently discovered coral reefs. Handout / Under the Pole/AFP
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Greece to Create New Marine Reserves to Protect Underwater Wildlife

Greece banned bottom trawling in the waters of the Fournoi Korseon island chain in the Aegean to protect recently discovered coral reefs. Handout / Under the Pole/AFP
Greece banned bottom trawling in the waters of the Fournoi Korseon island chain in the Aegean to protect recently discovered coral reefs. Handout / Under the Pole/AFP

Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis on Monday said that his government was creating two new protected marine areas, fulfilling a promise he made at a United Nations conference on the oceans in June.

The new protected areas -- in the Ionian Sea and in the Southern Cyclades in the Aegean Sea -- would be "among the largest marine protected areas in the entire Mediterranean", he said in a video message in English.

The prime minister said that the "hugely damaging practice of bottom trawling" by commercial fishing boats would be banned within the new marine reserves and in all Greece's marine protected areas by 2030, making it the first country in Europe to take such a significant step in preservation, reported AFP.

Fishing is generally allowed in protected marine areas worldwide, even by trawlers which scrape the seabed with a huge funnel-shaped net, to devastating effect.

Mitsotakis said that he had "made a promise to honor (Greece's) unique marine heritage" at last month's UN Oceans Conference in southern France, "and to protect it for generations to come".

"Today I am delivering on that promise with the establishment of two new marine national parks... because when we protect our ocean, we protect our own future."

Greece is located in the eastern Mediterranean and has around 13,600 kilometers (8,450 miles) of coastline and thousands of islands.

Greece, Brazil and Spain all used the UN conference in Nice, to announce new protected marine reserves and measures to ban bottom trawling, in order to better protect marine wildlife.

Mitsotakis said that the size of the new Greek marine reserves "will enable us to achieve the goal of protecting 30 percent of our territorial waters by 2030".

He said that the government would work with "local communities, local fishermen, scientists (and) global partners (to) make these parks examples of what is possible".

The oceans are 'life itself'

In May, Athens banned bottom trawling in the waters of the Fournoi Korseon island chain in the Aegean to protect recently discovered coral reefs that are exceptionally rich in marine wildlife.

Neighboring Türkiye, whose western coast is close to the Aegean islands, responded to Monday's announcement by criticizing such "unilateral action".

"International maritime law encourages cooperation between the coastal states of these seas, including on environmental issues," the foreign ministry in Ankara said.

It said that Türkiye was willing to cooperate with Greece and would soon announce its own plans to protect maritime areas.

Greece and Türkiye, both members of NATO, have historical disputes over maritime boundaries in the Aegean Sea.

They signed an agreement in 2023 aimed at easing tensions.

Mitsotakis said that "Ocean", a new documentary by British natural history broadcaster Sir David Attenborough, had inspired Greece to accelerate efforts to protect life below the waves.

"Ocean", which features spectacular footage of undersea habitats and marine life, emphasizes the importance of healthy seas for tackling climate change and the current sweeping loss of wild species across the planet.

Mitsotakis said "Ocean" showed that the sea was "not just beautiful scenery".

"It is life itself. Delicate. Powerful. And under threat."