A Race to Save the Slopes
The SwarmScientists and engineers try to remove worms from methane-rich slopes before further collapses produce more tsunamis.
increasing
Bearing strength in each event
decreasing
Bearing strength in each eventdecreasingA Threat Beyond Norway
New Sites Are Identified
The danger is not local
Investigators find worms on slopes beyond Norway, including regions near populated coastlines and volcanic islands.
The threat shifts from one past disaster to several possible future ones.
La Palma Becomes a Target
A Volcanic Flank at Risk
Another landscape may fail
Stanley Frost argues that worms and hydrate deposits threaten the western flank of La Palma.
A submarine landslide could produce a devastating Atlantic wave.
A Suction Vessel Is Refit
An Improvised Response
Industry provides machinery
De Beers helps adapt a semi-submersible platform and suction system to remove worms from a steep underwater slope.
The operation is ambitious, rushed, and technically difficult.
The Vacuum Works
The Worms Are Removed
Progress appears possible
The suction tube begins pulling worms from the terrace, and the team initially believes the operation is succeeding.
Their success encourages them to continue despite the unstable terrain.
The Terrace Slips
A Rescue Becomes Dangerous
The intervention triggers failure
The operation destabilizes the terrace and traps the suction tube; Frost and Bohrmann face engineered predators while trying to escape.
The episode shows that attacking symptoms can intensify the underlying crisis.
after the first tsunami
late May, during Frost’s assessment
June, before the La Palma operation
14 August, off La Palma
14 August, after hours of suction
