Teredo Worm damage on a non-wooden sailing vessel

Description:

Description: English: Teredo worms primarily live by filter feeding. They do not need wood to survive. In this photo we see damage to a non-wooden vessel that appears to have been caused by teredo worms living in casings attached to the outside of the hull. The remnants of a casing appears to be in the bottom right. The vessel was in Langkawi Malaysia. The holes do not appear to be very deep and the worms did not penetrate past the layers of epoxy and epoxy soaked fiberglass. It is thought that an organic filler material may have been used within the epoxy to make it easier to sand. Had the teredo worms made it past the layers of epoxy and fiberglass they would have made it into a wooden core and damage would have been extensive. Date: 12 August 2020. Source: Own work. Author: Philip Maise.