Scientists find huge suspected DDT dumpsite off California coast – video

Marine scientists say they have found what they believe to be as many as 25,000 barrels that possibly contain DDT dumped off the Southern California coast near Catalina Island, where a massive underwater toxic waste site dating back to the second world war has long been suspected.

The 27,345 barrel-like' images were captured by researchers at the University of California San Diego's Scripps Institution of Oceanography. They mapped more than 36,000 acres of seafloor between Santa Catalina Island and the Los Angeles coast in a region previously found to contain high levels of the toxic chemical in sediments and in the ecosystem.

The scientists have been investigating the barrels dumped on the sea floor for years

• Thousands of barrels of suspected toxic DDT found dumped in California ocean