World War II Explosives, Torpedo Heads and Mines: How Ocean Creatures Flourishes on Abandoned Weapons

In the slightly salty waters off the German shoreline rests a wasteland of Nazi bombs, torpedoes and naval mines. Thrown off barges at the conclusion of the second world war and forgotten about, thousands weapons have fused into clusters over the decades. They form a corroding layer on the shallow, muddy seafloor of the Lübeck Bay in the western tip of the Baltic.

Over the decades, the explosive stockpile was ignored and neglected. A increasing amount of visitors traveled to the sandy beaches and calm waters for jetskiing, kite surfing and amusement parks. Beneath the surface, the munitions eroded.

We initially expected to see a barren area, with no life because it was all toxic, states a scientist.

When the first scientists went searching to see what they were doing to the marine environment, some of us anticipated finding a desert, with nothing living there because it was all toxic, says the lead researcher.

What they found surprised them. Vedenin recounts his scientists exclaiming in amazement when the submersible first transmitted footage. It was a remarkable experience, he notes.

Numerous of sea creatures had established habitats on the explosives, developing a regenerated habitat richer than the seabed surrounding it.

This marine city was testament to the resilience of life. Indeed astonishing how much life we discover in places that are supposed to be hazardous and harmful, he states.

In excess of 40 starfish had clustered on to one exposed piece of TNT. They were residing on metal shells, ignition chambers and transport cases just centimetres from its explosive filling. Marine fish, crustaceans, anemones and bivalves were all found on the old munitions. It resembles a marine reef in terms of the amount of animal life that was inhabiting the area, notes Vedenin.

Unexpected Population Density

An average of more than 40,000 organisms were residing on every square metre of the weapons, scientists reported in their paper on the finding. The adjacent region was much sparser, with only eight thousand organisms on every square metre.

It is paradoxical that objects that are intended to eliminate all life are attracting so much life, says Vedenin. It's evident how the natural world adapts after a devastating occurrence such as the World War II and how, in certain respects, marine life returns to the most dangerous areas.

Artificial Structures as Marine Environments

Man-made features such as sunken vessels, offshore windfarms, oil rigs and undersea pipes can offer alternatives, replacing some of the destroyed habitat. This study demonstrates that munitions could be equally beneficial – the explosion of marine organisms on those in the Lübeck Bay is likely to be duplicated elsewhere.

Between the late 1940s and the post-war period, 1.6m tons of arms were discarded off the German coast. Countless of people transported them in barges; some were placed in designated sites, others just thrown overboard during transport. This is the initial instance experts have documented how ocean organisms has responded.

Global Instances of Marine Adaptation

• In the United States, decommissioned oil and gas structures have turned into coral reefs
• Sunken ships from the World War I have become habitats for wildlife along the Potomac in Maryland
• Tank tracks that have become environment to reef-building organisms off Asan in Guam

These locations become even more crucial for marine life as the marine environments are increasingly denuded by commercial fishing, seafloor dredging and anchoring. Sunken ships and explosive disposal locations practically function as refuges – they are not official reserves, but almost any kind of anthropogenic disturbance is banned, explains Vedenin. Consequently a numerous of organisms that are usually rare or decreasing, such as the Baltic cod, are flourishing.

Coming Issues

Wherever military conflict has occurred in the last century, surrounding seas are often containing explosives, states Vedenin. Millions of tons of dangerous substances remain in our marine environments.

The positions of these munitions are poorly documented, in part because of international boundaries, classified defense data and the reality that records are stored in historic archives. They pose an explosion and security danger, as well as danger from the ongoing release of poisonous compounds.

As the German government and other countries begin removing these artifacts, experts aim to preserve the marine communities that have formed nearby. In the Lübeck Bay weapons are presently being extracted.

We should replace these iron structures remaining from munitions with certain less dangerous, various safe objects, like possibly man-made habitats, suggests Vedenin.

He presently hopes that what occurs in the Bay of Lübeck sets a model for substituting material after explosive extraction in different areas – because including the most damaging armaments can become framework for ocean ecosystems.