World War II Bombs, Torpedo Heads and Naval Mines: The Way Ocean Creatures Thrives on Abandoned Weapons

In the brackish sea off the German coast sits a graveyard of World War II explosives, torpedo heads and naval mines. Discarded from vessels at the conclusion of the World War II and forgotten about, thousands explosives have become matted together over the years. They create a corroding layer on the shallow, muddy seafloor of the Bay of Lübeck in the western part of the Baltic.

Over the years, the Nazi arsenal was overlooked and neglected. A growing number of tourists came to the sandy beaches and tranquil sea for water sports, kite surfing and entertainment venues. Underwater, the munitions eroded.

We initially anticipated to see a barren area, with nothing living there because it was all poisoned, states the lead researcher.

When the initial researchers went looking to see what they were affecting to the ecosystem, some of us expected to see a barren area, with no organisms because it was all toxic, explains the lead researcher.

What they discovered amazed them. Vedenin recounts his colleagues exclaiming in amazement when the underwater vehicle first transmitted footage. This was a memorable occasion, he says.

Numerous of sea creatures had established habitats amid the weapons, creating a renewed marine community richer than the seabed nearby.

This marine city was testament to the resilience of marine life. It is actually remarkable how much marine organisms we discover in areas that are supposed to be dangerous and dangerous, he states.

Over 40 sea stars had piled on to one exposed chunk of TNT. They were living on iron containers, fuse pockets and carrying containers just a short distance from its dangerous content. Fish, crustaceans, sea anemones and bivalves were all discovered on the historic weapons. It's similar to a reef ecosystem in terms of the amount of animal life that was present, states Vedenin.

Surprising Population Density

An mean of more than forty thousand organisms were residing on every meter squared of the munitions, scientists reported in their research on the discovery. The adjacent region was much sparser, with only eight thousand creatures on every meter squared.

It is paradoxical that items that are meant to destroy everything are drawing so much marine organisms, states Vedenin. One can observe how nature adapts after a major disaster such as the World War II and how, in some way, life establishes itself to the most risky locations.

Man-made Structures as Marine Habitats

Artificial structures such as shipwrecks, wind turbines, oil rigs and pipelines can offer substitutes, replacing some of the lost marine environment. This investigation shows that munitions could be equally positive – the explosion of life on those in the Lübeck Bay is likely to be found elsewhere.

Between the late 1940s and the post-war period, 1.6 million tonnes of weapons were discarded off the Germany's coast. Countless of people transported them in vessels; a portion were placed in designated locations, others just dumped during transport. This is the first time scientists have recorded how ocean organisms has adapted.

Worldwide Instances of Ocean Adaptation

• In the US, decommissioned energy installations have turned into marine habitats
• Submerged vessels from the first world war have become homes for marine life along the Potomac River in Maryland
• Military vehicle parts that have become environment to reef-building organisms off Asan in Guam

These locations become even more important for wildlife as the marine environments are increasingly depleted by fishing, bottom trawling and boat mooring. Sunken ships and munitions areas practically function as refuges – they are not national parks, but virtually any kind of human activity is banned, states Vedenin. Therefore a lot of marine species that are otherwise uncommon or diminishing, such as the cod fish, are flourishing.

Coming Considerations

Anywhere warfare has taken place in the recent history, nearby oceans are often containing munitions, explains Vedenin. Many millions of tonnes of volatile compounds remain in our seas.

The locations of these explosives are insufficiently mapped, in part because of international boundaries, secret military information and the reality that archives are stored in old files. They create an detonation and safety danger, as well as risk from the continuous emission of toxic chemicals.

As the German government and other countries start removing these remains, scientists hope to safeguard the marine communities that have developed in their vicinity. In the Lübeck Bay munitions are presently being extracted.

We should replace these iron structures originating from weapons with certain more secure, various safe materials, like perhaps artificial reefs, says Vedenin.

He now hopes that what occurs in the Bay of Lübeck sets a precedent for substituting structures after munitions removal in other locations – because including the most damaging weaponry can become foundation for new life.