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

In the brackish sea off the Germany's shoreline sits a collection of Nazi bombs, torpedoes and naval mines. Discarded from vessels at the conclusion of the second world war and forgotten about, countless munitions have fused into clusters over the years. They comprise a corroding carpet on the shallow, muddy seafloor of the Lübeck Bay in the western part of the Baltic.

Over the decades, the explosive stockpile was overlooked and neglected. A increasing amount of tourists flocked to the coastal areas and tranquil sea for jetskiing, kite surfing and entertainment venues. Underwater, the munitions eroded.

Researchers thought to see a barren area, with no organisms because it was all contaminated, states the lead researcher.

When the team went looking to see what they were doing to the ecosystem, researchers expected to see a lifeless zone, with no life because it was all toxic, states the lead researcher.

What they found astonished them. Vedenin recalls his colleagues shouting with surprise when the submersible first relayed pictures. This was a remarkable experience, he says.

Numerous of ocean life had settled among the munitions, forming a renewed ecosystem denser than the ocean bottom surrounding it.

This marine city was proof to the resilience of marine life. It is actually astonishing how much life we find in areas that are supposed to be dangerous and dangerous, he states.

Over 40 starfish had gathered on to one exposed piece of explosive material. They were dwelling on iron containers, ignition chambers and storage boxes just centimetres from its volatile core. Fish, crabs, sea anemones and bivalves were all discovered on the historic weapons. You could compare it with a reef ecosystem in terms of the abundance of animal life that was there, notes Vedenin.

Remarkable Creature Concentration

An mean of more than forty thousand animals were living on every meter squared of the munitions, scientists reported in their paper on the observation. The nearby seabed was much sparser, with only eight thousand organisms on every meter squared.

It is paradoxical that objects that are intended to eliminate everything are drawing so much marine organisms, explains Vedenin. It's evident how the natural world adapts after a devastating occurrence such as the second world war and how, in certain respects, life establishes itself to the most risky places.

Man-made Features as Marine Environments

Artificial constructions such as sunken vessels, wind turbines, drilling platforms and pipelines can provide substitutes, compensating for some of the lost marine environment. This study demonstrates that explosives could be comparably positive – the proliferation of marine organisms on those in the Bay of Lübeck is expected to be repeated in different areas.

Between 1946 and 1948, 1.6m tonnes of arms were discarded off the German coast. Thousands of people loaded them in barges; some were dropped in specific locations, others just discarded at sea during transport. This is the first time researchers have documented how marine life has responded.

Worldwide Examples of Marine Transformation

• In the United States, retired drilling platforms have become marine habitats
• Sunken ships from the first world war have become homes for creatures along the Potomac River in Maryland
• Tank tracks that have become habitat to reef-building organisms off Asan in the Pacific island

These areas become even more important for wildlife as the oceans are increasingly depleted by fishing, seafloor dredging and boat mooring. Sunken ships and munitions areas practically act as sanctuaries – they are not official reserves, but nearly any kind of anthropogenic disturbance is restricted, says Vedenin. Consequently a many of marine species that are otherwise rare or declining, such as the cod fish, are prospering.

Future Considerations

Anywhere military conflict has taken place in the past 100 years, adjacent waters are typically strewn with explosives, explains Vedenin. Millions of tons of volatile compounds rest in our oceans.

The locations of these explosives are inadequately mapped, partly because of international boundaries, restricted military information and the fact that archives are stored in historic archives. They present an explosion and safety hazard, as well as danger from the persistent leakage of toxic chemicals.

As Germany and other countries begin extracting these remains, experts aim to preserve the marine communities that have developed nearby. In the Lübeck Bay munitions are presently being extracted.

Researchers recommend substitute these steel remains left from munitions with some safer, various non-dangerous materials, like maybe man-made habitats, states Vedenin.

He currently hopes that what happens in Lübeck establishes a precedent for replacing structures after explosive extraction in different areas – because even the most damaging weaponry can become foundation for ocean ecosystems.