Scientists say they have found what they believe to be 25,000 barrels possibly containing DDT which was dumped off the Southern California coast.

They were very surprised when they found these barrels. They mapped more than 36,000 acres of seafloor in a region previously found to contain high levels of DDT in the sediments and in the ecosystem.

The area has long been suspected to be the site of an underwater toxic waste dump dating back to the Second World War.

Difficult words: DDT (a chemical for killing insects), dump off (to throw away), acre (4050 square meters), sediment (the solid material that settles at the bottom of the sea), suspect (to think that something is probably true).