Watch: You Won’t Believe What’s Being Uncovered As Places Like the Danube River Are Drying Up

As Europe (and most of the world) continues to battle a record heat wave that one top specialist said could be its most alarming and worst drought in 500 years, decreasing water levels along the mainland’s enormous Danube River have uncovered around two dozen submerged ships that belonged to the German armed force during World War II.

The Danube, which is Europe’s second-longest river, extends from the Black Forest in southwestern Germany to the Black Sea in eastern Romania. Its water levels are currently receding causing it to dry out and start revealing many things, with the water levels reaching their lowest point in almost a century this year, and as of late falling five feet in only three weeks’ time at a stretch close to Budapest. The region’s leading water organization cautioned that the unexpected drop could jeopardize its supply of drinking water.

Around 380 miles south of Hungary’s capital city, receding water along the Danube river close to Prahovo, Servia, uncovered the masses of over 20 vessels once worked by Nazi Germany’s Black Sea armada, which went through the stream while withdrawing from Soviet powers around the conclusion of the conflict. Many submerged German warships are dispersed across the Danube River, and they can present threats to present-day river traffic and delivery when water levels fall excessively low.

A considerable amount of the submerged vessels— including those that just reemerged close to Prahovo — still contain various contents such as ammo and explosives, according to local news outlets,  adding that a portion of the recently uncovered vessels has dropped the usable areas of the Danube by around 200 feet.

“The German flotilla has left behind a big ecological disaster that threatens us, people of Prahovo,” Velimir Trajilovic, 74, an occupant of the Serbian port city said.

Constant dry spells across Europe and North America, which researchers attribute to continuous climate change, have started to peak the concerns and worries about the wellbeing and security of communities that depend on water sources that are presently quickly exhausting.

While many are concerned about the water levels quickly diminishing, others are impressed at the old ships and the contents within. However, the ships are not the only thing the low water levels have unveiled. In Italy, an unexploded 1,000-pound bomb was found recently as the country’s waterway Po dries up. It surfaced around two months after a 50-foot barge, likewise from World War II, turned up somewhere else along a similar stream. The bomb was taken to a safe location and detonated.

In other areas, there are thousands upon thousands of fish washing ashore with some baking in the hot sun. There were even some ruins in Spain that were recently discovered as the waters hit an all-time low.

In the U.S., record-low water levels at Lake Mead, the country’s biggest reservoir, have led specialists to find human remains— some of which are assessed to be decades old — on various occasions since early May. A sunken World War II-era boat was likewise found down there recently back in July.