World War II Bombs, Torpedoes and Mines: The Way Ocean Creatures Thrives on Discarded Weapons

In the slightly salty sea off the German shoreline rests a collection of World War II explosives, torpedoes and mines. Dumped from boats at the end of the second world war and left behind, thousands weapons have accumulated over the years. They comprise a rusting blanket on the low-depth, silty ocean floor of the Lübeck Bay in the western tip of the Baltic.

Over the decades, the Nazi arsenal was ignored and forgotten about. A growing number of tourists came to the sandy beaches and calm waters for water sports, kiteboarding and entertainment venues. Underwater, the weapons decayed.

We initially thought to see a barren area, with no life because it was all toxic, explains the lead researcher.

When the initial researchers went searching to see what they were doing to the marine environment, researchers anticipated finding a desert, with no life because it was all toxic, says the lead researcher.

What they observed astonished them. Vedenin recounts his colleagues exclaiming in amazement when the underwater vehicle first relayed pictures. This was a memorable occasion, he says.

Numerous of ocean life had made their homes amid the explosives, forming a regenerated ecosystem richer than the ocean bottom surrounding it.

This ocean community was proof to the persistence of marine life. It is actually remarkable how much life we observe in locations that are expected to be dangerous and dangerous, he explains.

More than 40 sea stars had piled on to one visible fragment of explosive material. They were dwelling on metal shells, ignition chambers and transport cases just centimetres from its explosive filling. Fish, crabs, sea anemones and bivalves were all discovered on the historic weapons. It's similar to a reef ecosystem in terms of the amount of fauna that was inhabiting the area, notes Vedenin.

Unexpected Creature Concentration

An mean of more than forty thousand animals were dwelling on every meter squared of the munitions, researchers wrote in their paper on the discovery. The surrounding area was much poorer in life, with only 8,000 organisms on every square metre.

It is paradoxical that objects that are intended to eliminate everything are attracting so much marine organisms, explains Vedenin. You can see how nature evolves after a catastrophic event such as the World War II and how, in certain respects, marine life finds its way to the most dangerous places.

Artificial Structures as Ocean Habitats

Artificial structures such as sunken vessels, wind turbines, oil rigs and undersea pipes can provide substitutes, replacing some of the destroyed habitat. This research demonstrates that munitions could be similarly positive – the bloom of life on those in the Bay of Lübeck is probable to be found in other locations.

Between the late 1940s and 1948, 1.6 million tons of weapons were disposed of off the Germany's shoreline. Numerous of workers placed them in barges; some were deposited in designated locations, the remainder just discarded at sea while traveling. This is the first time researchers have recorded how marine life has reacted.

Worldwide Instances of Marine Transformation

• In the United States, decommissioned energy installations have turned into marine habitats
• Submerged vessels from the World War I have become habitats for creatures along the Potomac River in the state of Maryland
• Tank tracks that have become environment to coral off Asan beach in the Pacific island

These locations become even more valuable for wildlife as the marine environments are increasingly stripped by fishing, bottom trawling and boat mooring. Shipwrecks and munitions areas essentially serve as sanctuaries – they are not official reserves, but almost any kind of anthropogenic disturbance is banned, explains Vedenin. Consequently a many of marine species that are typically rare or decreasing, such as the Baltic cod, are prospering.

Coming Issues

Wherever warfare has taken place in the last century, surrounding seas are typically littered with weapons, says Vedenin. Millions of tons of dangerous substances lie in our seas.

The locations of these munitions are inadequately recorded, partially because of international boundaries, classified armed forces records and the situation that archives are hidden in historic archives. They create an detonation and security risk, as well as threat from the persistent leakage of toxic chemicals.

As Germany and other countries start extracting these relics, scientists aim to protect the marine communities that have established nearby. In the Lübeck Bay munitions are already being removed.

Researchers recommend replace these steel remains remaining from weapons with some less dangerous, various non-dangerous structures, like perhaps concrete structures, says Vedenin.

He presently hopes that what occurs in Lübeck creates a precedent for replacing structures after munitions removal elsewhere – because also the most destructive armaments can become framework for new life.