Midway wrecks face salvagers as well as corrosion

How long might Midway's wrecks remain intact in their low-oxygen deep-water environment?

They could survive for several more decades, but unauthorized salvage, changing currents, seabed conditions, and ecosystem shifts may matter as much as slow corrosion.

The anaerobic environment can slow deterioration and preserve structures better than at Titanic's site. Public knowledge of wreck locations still requires caution because scrap salvagers can destroy a site much faster than corrosion. Arresting crews does not necessarily reach the financiers or networks behind illegal recovery. Natural changes in currents, sediment, and local ecosystems can also destabilize the wreck, while recovery from such depths would be a separate and exceptionally difficult undertaking.