The naval mine, the origins of which remain unknown, was first noticed Tuesday by the Washington State Department of Natural Resources, Business Insider reported. The mine was decades old, judging by how much "marine growth" was found on the rusted floating orb, the US Navy said Tuesday.
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The mine was exploded by a US Navy explosive ordnance disposal team, while Coast Guard units were tasked with setting up a perimeter to keep people safe. Residents were further prodded to take shelter in their homes during the detonation operation, Business Insider added.
"This is the Kitsap County Department of Emergency Management with important information for the area of the Brownsville Marina. Kitsap County Sheriff's Office is asking the public to SHELTER-IN-PLACE if you live or work around the Brownsville Marina at this time," emergency responders told the public before the situation was settled.
The moored mine had to be towed out from Brownsville Marina before explosives could be used to set it off. According to local media reports, the Navy believes the mine was inert because of the absence of a secondary explosion when it was destroyed.
"Upon initial inspection, the unidentified moored mine was found to have decades of marine growth," the Navy said.
Washington State resident Samuel Sherman was relieved nobody was injured, Komo News reported. "We didn't know if they were going to blow it up or not, but when we heard a boom and the house shook, we thought, ‘Oh man, did the thing go off on them?'" said Sherman.
The Navy said it was not able to tow the mine to shore and detonate it somewhere else because of the possibility that the mine was packed with explosives. So the service branch decided to defuse the threat by exploding the device in the water, after a couple of divers lassoed the mine and pulled it out further from the marina.
"Where do you get a World War II mine floating out here, of all places? Where'd it come from? That's my question," Steve Tillery, who owns a boat anchored at Brownsville Marina, said in comments to Komo News.