Unlike the warm, high-salinity waters of the Mediterranean, which host wood-boring shipworms (*Teredo navalis*) that rapidly consume submerged timber, the Baltic Sea possesses a unique environment that preserves wooden shipwrecks for centuries. The Baltic Sea is characterized by low salinity levels, typically ranging from to parts per thousand, which is far below the threshold required for *Teredo navalis* to survive and reproduce. Consequently, wooden vessels like the seventeenth-century warship *Vasa* remained nearly intact until their salvage. However, these wrecks are not entirely immune to decay; low-oxygen-tolerant soft-rot fungi and erosion bacteria slowly degrade the wood fibers over long periods, albeit at a drastically reduced rate compared to warm-water wood-borers.
Based on the text, what is true of the decay of wooden shipwrecks in the Baltic Sea?
- AIt is completely prevented by the Baltic Sea's low salinity levels, which eliminate all wood-degrading organisms.
- BIt occurs at a rate comparable to the decay of wooden vessels submerged in the Mediterranean Sea.
- It is carried out slowly by soft-rot fungi and bacteria that can tolerate low-oxygen environments.Answer
- DIt will rapidly accelerate now that the seventeenth-century warship *Vasa* has been salvaged.