World War II Bombs, Torpedo Heads and Naval Mines: The Way Marine Life Thrives on Dumped Weapons

In the brackish sea off the German shoreline lies a graveyard of Nazi bombs, torpedo heads and mines. Discarded from barges at the conclusion of the World War II and forgotten about, countless explosives have fused into clusters over the years. They form a corroding carpet on the low-depth, muddy ocean floor of the Bay of Lübeck in the western part of the Baltic Sea.

Over the years, the explosive stockpile was overlooked and neglected. A growing number of tourists came to the coastal areas and calm waters for jetskiing, kite surfing and amusement parks. Underwater, the munitions eroded.

Some of us anticipated to see a barren area, with no organisms because it was all toxic, says the lead researcher.

When the first scientists went investigating to see what they were affecting to the marine environment, the team expected to see a desert, with nothing living there because it was all toxic, explains a scientist.

What they found amazed them. Vedenin recalls his scientists exclaiming in amazement when the underwater vehicle first transmitted footage. That moment was a remarkable experience, he says.

Thousands of marine animals had settled among the munitions, developing a revitalized habitat more populous than the sea floor around it.

This underwater metropolis was evidence to the tenacity of marine life. It is actually astonishing how much marine organisms we find in areas that are expected to be dangerous and dangerous, he says.

More than 40 sea stars had gathered on to one exposed fragment of TNT. They were living on iron containers, detonator compartments and transport cases just centimetres from its explosive filling. Fish, crabs, anemones and mussels were all found on the old munitions. It's similar to a marine reef in terms of the amount of fauna that was inhabiting the area, notes Vedenin.

Surprising Creature Concentration

An average of more than forty thousand animals were living on every square metre of the explosives, scientists reported in their paper on the observation. The surrounding area was much poorer in life, with only 8,000 creatures on every meter squared.

It is ironic that things that are intended to destroy everything are hosting so much marine organisms, says Vedenin. You can see how the natural world adapts after a major disaster such as the second world war and how, in some way, life returns to the most dangerous locations.

Man-made Features as Ocean Environments

Artificial constructions such as shipwrecks, offshore windfarms, drilling platforms and undersea pipes can provide replacements, replacing some of the removed marine environment. This investigation reveals that munitions could be similarly positive – the proliferation of marine organisms on those in the Lübeck Bay is probable to be duplicated in other locations.

Between the late 1940s and the post-war period, 1.6m tons of munitions were disposed of off the German coast. Countless of people transported them in vessels; some were deposited in allocated sites, the remainder just dumped while traveling. This is the initial instance researchers have studied how marine life has reacted.

Global Examples of Ocean Adaptation

• In the United States, decommissioned drilling platforms have turned into coral reefs
• Sunken ships from the World War I have become habitats for marine life along the Potomac River in the state of Maryland
• Tank tracks that have become home to coral off Asan beach in the Pacific island

These places become even more important for organisms as the oceans are increasingly stripped by commercial fishing, bottom trawling and anchoring. Sunken ships and explosive disposal locations practically act as sanctuaries – they are not official reserves, but almost any kind of anthropogenic disturbance is restricted, says Vedenin. Consequently a lot of marine species that are typically rare or decreasing, such as the cod fish, are thriving.

Future Factors

Anywhere warfare has taken place in the last century, surrounding seas are usually containing weapons, states Vedenin. Many millions of tons of explosive material remain in our seas.

The positions of these munitions are poorly recorded, partly because of sovereign limits, restricted armed forces records and the fact that records are hidden in old files. They create an detonation and security risk, as well as threat from the ongoing release of toxic chemicals.

As Germany and additional nations embark on extracting these relics, scientists plan to safeguard the habitats that have formed nearby. In the Lübeck Bay munitions are currently being cleared.

We should replace these iron structures remaining from weapons with some safer, some non-dangerous structures, like maybe man-made habitats, states Vedenin.

He now hopes that what occurs in Lübeck establishes a model for replacing habitats after weapon clearance in other locations – because even the most harmful armaments can become foundation for ocean ecosystems.