World War II Bombs, Torpedoes and Naval Mines: How Marine Life Prosper on Abandoned Armaments

In the brackish sea off the German shoreline lies a graveyard of World War II explosives, torpedoes and mines. Thrown off vessels at the conclusion of the World War II and neglected, countless munitions have accumulated over the years. They create a decaying carpet on the low-depth, silty ocean floor of the Bay of Lübeck in the western tip of the Baltic.

Over the years, the wartime weapons was overlooked and neglected. A increasing amount of visitors came to the sandy beaches and calm waters for jetskiing, kiteboarding and entertainment venues. Underwater, the munitions decayed.

Some of us thought to see a barren area, 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, some of us thought they would find a lifeless zone, with nothing living there because it was all contaminated, says a scientist.

What they found amazed them. Vedenin remembers his team members reacting with shock when the submersible first transmitted footage. That moment was a memorable occasion, he says.

Countless of ocean life had established habitats on the weapons, creating a renewed habitat denser than the sea floor surrounding it.

This marine city was evidence to the resilience of life. Indeed surprising how much life we find in areas that are expected to be toxic and risky, he explains.

In excess of 40 sea stars had piled on to one visible fragment of TNT. They were dwelling on iron containers, ignition chambers and transport cases just centimetres from its volatile core. Fish, crustaceans, anemones and mussels were all discovered on the historic weapons. It's similar to a coral reef in terms of the quantity of animal life that was present, says Vedenin.

Remarkable Population Density

An average of more than 40,000 organisms were residing on every square metre of the weapons, researchers wrote in their research on the discovery. The adjacent region was much less diverse, with only 8,000 individuals on every meter squared.

It is paradoxical that things that are meant to destroy all life are drawing so much marine organisms, states Vedenin. One can observe how the natural world adapts after a major disaster such as the World War II and how, in some way, life establishes itself to the most hazardous areas.

Artificial Structures as Marine Habitats

Man-made structures such as shipwrecks, wind turbines, oil rigs and undersea pipes can create alternatives, restoring some of the lost marine environment. This research shows that weapons could be comparably advantageous – the bloom of marine organisms on those in the Lübeck Bay is likely to be found elsewhere.

Between 1946 and the post-war period, 1.6m tonnes of weapons were discarded off the German shoreline. Numerous of workers loaded them in vessels; some were placed in designated areas, others just thrown overboard during transport. This is the initial instance researchers have recorded how ocean organisms has responded.

Worldwide Examples of Ocean Adaptation

• In the United States, retired drilling platforms have turned into reef ecosystems
• Submerged vessels from the World War I have become homes for creatures along the Potomac in Maryland
• Tank tracks that have become habitat to reef-building organisms off Asan in Guam

These locations become even more important for wildlife as the seas are increasingly stripped by fishing, bottom trawling and anchoring. Sunken ships and explosive disposal locations essentially function as sanctuaries – they are not national parks, but virtually any kind of anthropogenic disturbance is banned, states Vedenin. As a result a many of organisms that are usually uncommon or decreasing, such as the Baltic cod, are thriving.

Coming Issues

Wherever military conflict has happened in the past 100 years, nearby oceans are often littered with weapons, says Vedenin. Many millions of tons of volatile compounds remain in our seas.

The locations of these weapons are insufficiently documented, partially because of international boundaries, secret armed forces records and the fact that records are buried in old files. They present an explosion and security risk, as well as danger from the ongoing release of hazardous substances.

As the German government and different states embark on clearing these remains, scientists hope to safeguard the habitats that have formed around them. In the Lübeck Bay explosives are currently being removed.

We should replace these metal carcasses originating from weapons with some safer, various harmless materials, like possibly concrete structures, says Vedenin.

He now aspires that what transpires in the Bay of Lübeck sets a model for replacing structures after explosive extraction in different areas – because even the most harmful explosives can become scaffolding for ocean ecosystems.