HONOLULU -- Researchers at the University of Hawaii are analyzing data from the deep ocean floor south of Pearl Harbor that will determine where chemical weapons from World War II were dumped.

The UH School of Ocean and Earth Science and Technology headed the mission. Deep-sea submersibles spent 17 days exploring the sea floor 1,500 feet below sea level, 5 miles south of Pearl Harbor.

At the end of World War II, the military dumped tons of munitions in the ocean, some conventional weapons, some chemical weapons.

"We sampled 19 different locations, four areas we saw in terms of ordnance, 1,000 or 2,000 things that looked like they were ordnance," UH researcher Margo Edwards said.

Assistant Secretary of the Army Tad Davis said the advanced research is being done in Hawaii only by UH.

The videos show old bombs that are corroded and rusty. Submersibles took samples of sand and water, which will be analyzed to see if explosives or chemicals are leaching out into the ocean. The samples are at labs where researchers will spend months analyzing them.

"The sediments and water samples are at labs being analyzed, taking sonar data and camera data and tying them together to try and create, basically, a map of south of Pearl Harbor," Edwards said.

The assistant Army secretary said a preliminary report could be released in about six months.