Termites of the sea are attacking what’s believed to be the wreck of Captain James Cook’s ship, the HMB Endeavour, a marine biologist says.

Marine invertebrate expert Reuben Shipway dived on the remains of the wreck on the bottom of Newport Harbour off Rhode Island and noticed the damage, likely caused by seaworms, immediately.

“They’ll do it in no time at all,” he told Ross and Russel.

“During my PhD I worked on a wooden replica vessel that was deliberately scuttled in the Mediterranean and within four years the whole thing was completely chewed up.

“What’s probably happened is the vessel sank, it was chewed up by these animals to the point where some if the vessel got buried by sediments and then it got protected by the sediments.

“If there’s a change in the tide or a storm or something uncovers the vessel … then the wood becomes available for the larvae to settle on and then the shipworms to grow.”

Press PLAY below to hear more about the damage on the wreck