World War II Bombs, Torpedo Heads and Mines: How Marine Life Prosper on Discarded Weapons

In the brackish waters off the Germany's coast rests a wasteland of World War II explosives, torpedo heads and naval mines. Dumped from vessels at the conclusion of the World War II and forgotten about, numerous explosives have accumulated over the decades. They create a corroding blanket 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 ignored and forgotten about. A increasing amount of tourists traveled to the sandy beaches and tranquil sea for jetskiing, kite surfing and amusement parks. Below the waves, the munitions deteriorated.

We initially anticipated to see a lifeless zone, with nothing living there because it was all toxic, says Andrey Vedenin.

When the initial researchers went searching to see what they were doing to the marine environment, researchers thought they would find a barren area, with no life because it was all poisoned, states Andrey Vedenin.

What they discovered astonished them. Vedenin recalls his colleagues exclaiming in amazement when the ROV first relayed pictures. It was a remarkable experience, he says.

Thousands of marine animals had established habitats on the weapons, creating a regenerated habitat more populous than the ocean bottom around it.

This underwater metropolis was proof to the resilience of marine life. Indeed astonishing how much marine organisms we observe in areas that are supposed to be dangerous and risky, he says.

Over 40 sea stars had piled on to one exposed chunk of TNT. They were residing on iron containers, detonator compartments and transport cases just a short distance from its explosive filling. Fish, crustaceans, anemones and mussels were all found on the historic weapons. It's similar to a marine reef in terms of the amount of creatures that was there, notes Vedenin.

Surprising Creature Concentration

An average of more than forty thousand creatures were living on every square metre of the munitions, scientists wrote in their paper on the observation. The adjacent region was much poorer in life, with only 8,000 organisms on every square metre.

It is ironic that objects that are designed to destroy all life are drawing so much life, states Vedenin. One can observe how nature adjusts after a major disaster such as the second world war and how, in some way, life establishes itself to the most hazardous locations.

Man-made Structures as Ocean Habitats

Artificial constructions such as shipwrecks, wind turbines, oil rigs and undersea pipes can create replacements, compensating for some of the lost marine environment. This study shows that weapons could be comparably advantageous – the explosion of marine organisms on those in the Lübeck Bay is likely to be found elsewhere.

Between 1946 and 1948, 1.6 million tons of munitions were discarded off the Germany's coast. Numerous of workers transported them in boats; some were deposited in allocated sites, others just dumped during transport. This is the initial instance researchers have documented how marine life has responded.

Worldwide Instances of Marine Transformation

• In the US, decommissioned oil and gas structures have become coral reefs
• Submerged vessels from the World War I have become homes for wildlife along the Potomac in Maryland
• Tank tracks that have become home to reef-building organisms off Asan beach in the Pacific island

These places become even more important for organisms as the marine environments are increasingly stripped by commercial fishing, seafloor dredging and boat mooring. Shipwrecks and munitions areas practically function as sanctuaries – they are not official reserves, but nearly any kind of human activity is prohibited, states Vedenin. Therefore a numerous of marine species that are otherwise uncommon or decreasing, such as the cod fish, are flourishing.

Future Considerations

Anywhere military conflict has taken place in the recent history, adjacent waters are often containing munitions, states Vedenin. Millions of tonnes of volatile compounds lie in our marine environments.

The sites of these explosives are inadequately documented, partly because of sovereign limits, classified armed forces records and the fact that archives are hidden in historic archives. They present an explosion and safety danger, as well as risk from the continuous leakage of hazardous substances.

As Germany and different states begin clearing these artifacts, experts hope to preserve the habitats that have formed in their vicinity. In the Lübeck Bay weapons are already being removed.

We should substitute these metal carcasses remaining from weapons with some more secure, various non-dangerous materials, like maybe man-made habitats, suggests Vedenin.

He currently aspires that what occurs in the Bay of Lübeck establishes a model for replacing material after explosive extraction in other locations – because also the most damaging explosives can become framework for marine organisms.