This episode is sponsored by Endel,  an app that creates personalized soundscapes to help you focus, relax, and sleep.

The first 100 people to click our description  link will get a one week free trial. [♪ INTRO] A shipwreck can be like a phoenix of the ocean. Underwater life can sometimes spring  from the demise of an ocean vessel.

By studying shipwrecks, researchers  have found that ships are surprisingly good for marine life, especially  certain endangered fish. But shipwrecks come with some  pretty clear dangers, so we’re finding other ways to bring the same  benefits to fish: through underwater art. There are places all over  the world, usually where the waters are most dangerous, where  shipwrecks litter the ocean floor.

These places are known as shipwreck graveyards. And marine animals, from sand tiger  sharks in the Atlantic Ocean to dusky grouper fish in the  Mediterranean Sea, are impacted by these sudden sunken ships  in both good ways and bad. Dusky groupers are iconic  in the Mediterranean Sea.

But over time, they’ve become endangered. In a weird twist of marine biology,  shipwrecks have inadvertently benefited them by providing a new habitat. Researchers have found that  there’s more biodiversity around shipwrecks than other parts of the sea.

And dusky groupers are a part of that  biodiversity, probably for a few reasons, like the shelter from fishing  equipment that old ships can provide. And these groupers often return to the same place year after year  to mate, among other things. So shipwrecks might help  these fish make a comeback.

But, they also come with some drawbacks. When they sank, some ships  were transporting chemicals that could be toxic to sea life. For example, research in the Mediterranean found significantly higher levels of  arsenic in the soil around shipwrecks.

And some ships were made with electrical  systems that have transformers and other devices onboard that can leak  dangerous fluids into the surrounding area. And these chemical changes in the sea ecosystem can be found decades after the wreck. So anything from cargo, like weapons and vehicles, or the ship itself decomposing in the  water can leak into these fish’s homes.

One 2017 study in the Mediterranean  Sea found higher levels of these chemicals in the livers of fish sampled near shipwrecks compared to  those sampled farther away. So we might have accidentally given these fish a new home with our shipwrecks,  but that home is poisoning them. That’s why some groups have started  to create safer alternative refuges for animals like groupers. …In the  form of underwater art installations.

Off the coast of Tuscany, for  example, a sculpture garden called “La Casa Dei Pesci” is anchored to  the bottom of the Mediterranean sea. It consists of dozens of marble  sculptures designed to be underwater. They’re placed on the seabed  at strategic distances from each other to block trawling nets  used in illegal fishing practices.

That way, they can provide  some of the same benefits that shipwrecks give the fish,  like safety from fishing. But underwater museums aren’t  just for environmental protection. They’re also art, so they  function as tourist attractions.

Anyone can travel to see the museum and scuba dive through a tour of  the life that it sustains. And when you take photographs of wildlife  around these tourist attractions, those pictures could be used in research  to protect the nature that you’re enjoying. And this isn’t just happening  in the Mediterranean; Australia has also joined the  underwater museum movement.

The Museum of Underwater Art  in the Great Barrier Reef began construction in 2019,  just like La Casa Dei Pesci. Much like shipwreck graveyards,  these objects on the ocean floor can protect sea life from  dangerous fishing techniques. And they don’t have any of the fuel, cargo, electrical systems and toxic  chemicals that shipwrecks can have.

If toxic chemicals leaking from shipwrecks  got your heart pumping a little faster, then you might want to check out  Endel app and their Relax soundscape. Their app is able to adapt in  real-time to personal inputs like heart rate and get you calmed down. Endel app combines technology with everything we know about sound to create personalized  soundscapes that can help you relax.

And that’s because sound has a direct impact on your physical and mental wellbeing. It can calm your mind to create  feelings of comfort and safety, from shipwrecks and more. To get started with Endel app, click  the link down below in the description.

The first 100 people to  download Endel using that link will get a free week of audio experiences! Thank you to Endel app for  supporting this SciShow video and thank you for watching. [♪ OUTRO]