World War II Explosives, Torpedo Heads and Mines: The Way Ocean Creatures Thrives on Abandoned Armaments

In the slightly salty waters off the Germany's shoreline lies a collection of Nazi bombs, torpedo heads and naval mines. Thrown off barges at the conclusion of the second world war and neglected, countless weapons have become matted together over the years. They form a corroding layer on the shallow, silty seafloor of the Bay of Lübeck in the western tip of the Baltic Sea.

Over the decades, the explosive stockpile was overlooked and neglected. A increasing amount of visitors flocked to the coastal areas and tranquil sea for water sports, kite surfing and amusement parks. Beneath the surface, the munitions eroded.

Researchers expected to see a barren area, with no life because it was all poisoned, explains Andrey Vedenin.

When the first scientists went searching to see what they were doing to the ecosystem, the team expected to see a desert, with nothing living there because it was all poisoned, states the lead researcher.

What they discovered surprised them. Vedenin recounts his team members reacting with shock when the submersible first transmitted footage. This was a remarkable experience, he notes.

Thousands of ocean life had established habitats amid the explosives, developing a renewed ecosystem denser than the seabed nearby.

This marine city was testament to the tenacity of life. Indeed astonishing how much marine organisms we discover in places that are considered toxic and harmful, he explains.

Over 40 sea stars had gathered on to one visible piece of explosive material. They were living on iron containers, fuse pockets and storage boxes just a short distance from its dangerous content. Marine fish, crustaceans, anemones and bivalves were all observed on the old munitions. It's similar to a reef ecosystem in terms of the abundance of fauna that was present, states Vedenin.

Surprising Population Density

An mean of more than forty thousand organisms were residing on every square metre of the munitions, scientists reported in their paper on the discovery. The surrounding area was much poorer in life, with only eight thousand individuals on every square metre.

It is surprising that things that are meant to eliminate everything are attracting so much life, states Vedenin. You can see how nature adapts after a catastrophic event such as the second world war and how, in some way, life establishes itself to the most dangerous places.

Artificial Structures as Ocean Habitats

Man-made constructions such as sunken vessels, offshore windfarms, drilling platforms and pipelines can offer substitutes, compensating for some of the lost marine environment. This investigation shows that munitions could be similarly beneficial – the proliferation of marine organisms on those in the Lübeck Bay is expected to be found elsewhere.

Between the late 1940s and 1948, 1.6 million tonnes of munitions were disposed of off the German coast. Numerous of workers loaded them in barges; a portion were dropped in allocated locations, others just thrown overboard en route. This is the initial instance researchers have studied how marine life has responded.

Worldwide Instances of Ocean Transformation

• In the United States, decommissioned oil and gas structures have transformed into coral reefs
• Sunken ships from the World War I have become homes for creatures along the Potomac in Maryland
• Tank tracks that have become environment to coral off Asan in the Pacific island

These areas become even more important for organisms as the oceans are increasingly depleted by commercial fishing, seafloor dredging and anchoring. Shipwrecks and explosive disposal locations essentially function as sanctuaries – they are not national parks, but virtually any kind of human activity is prohibited, states Vedenin. Consequently a lot of marine species that are otherwise uncommon or declining, such as the cod fish, are thriving.

Future Factors

Wherever warfare has taken place in the past 100 years, adjacent waters are typically strewn with explosives, states Vedenin. Many millions of tons of dangerous substances remain in our marine environments.

The sites of these explosives are insufficiently recorded, partially because of international boundaries, secret military information and the situation that records are hidden in old files. They create an explosion and safety risk, as well as danger from the continuous emission of hazardous substances.

As the German government and additional nations embark on clearing these artifacts, experts hope to protect the habitats that have formed nearby. In the Bay of Lübeck weapons are presently being cleared.

It would be wise to substitute these metal carcasses left from weapons with certain more secure, various harmless structures, like perhaps artificial reefs, states Vedenin.

He presently aspires that what occurs in Lübeck sets a model for replacing structures after explosive extraction in other locations – because even the most damaging armaments can become foundation for ocean ecosystems.