US Navy set to recover bombs on Barrier Reef Retrieval: The US Navy plans to recover four unarmed bombs that were dropped in the Great Barrier Reef. The US Navy is planning to recover four unarmed bombs it dropped in the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park and said the chance of them exploding was extremely remote. The four bombs - two inert and two high explosive but unarmed - were dropped from a pair of US Harrier jets on Tuesday. The jets were supposed to have dropped the bombs on a range at Townshend Island, north of Rockhampton, but were told the range was not clear. After several failed attempts, the aircraft were running low on fuel and had to drop the bombs at sea. They are lying under 60 metres of water, about 100 kilometres offshore and about 16 nautical miles south of Bell Cay in the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park. "Due to low fuel and inability to land with the amount of ordnance they were carrying, the on-scene commander determined it was necessary to designate an emergency jettison area for the ordnance," US Navy spokesman Commander William Marks said. He said each bomb was jettisoned in a "safe, unarmed state and did not explode." The Australian Defence Force said the bombs posed "minimal risk or threat to the public, the marine environment or civilian shipping transiting the reef area." "The incident is being investigated by the US and findings will be provided to the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority so that the way ahead can be mutually agreed," a spokesman said. But protesters expressed horror at the bombing of the World Heritage-listed reef. How can they protect the environment and bomb the reef at the same time? Get real," said Graeme Dunstan, an environmental campaigner who opposes the joint Australian-US military exercise Talisman Sabre. Each Harrier jet dropped two 227-kilo bombs: one BDU 45 and one High Explosive GBU 12. The BDU 45s are inert and the GBU 12s were unarmed when released, so none exploded. The extent of damage to the reef or other marine life is unclear.