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

In the slightly salty sea off the Germany's shoreline lies a graveyard of World War II explosives, torpedoes and naval mines. Dumped from vessels at the end of the World War II and left behind, thousands munitions have become matted together over the years. They create a corroding layer on the low-depth, muddy ocean floor of the Bay of Lübeck in the western tip of the Baltic.

Over the years, the Nazi arsenal was overlooked and neglected. A increasing amount of visitors flocked to the sandy beaches and calm waters for water sports, kite surfing and entertainment venues. Beneath the surface, the munitions decayed.

We initially thought to see a lifeless zone, with no organisms because it was all poisoned, explains the lead researcher.

When the initial researchers went looking to see what they were affecting to the marine environment, the team expected to see a lifeless zone, with nothing living there because it was all contaminated, says the lead researcher.

What they found astonished them. Vedenin remembers his colleagues exclaiming in amazement when the underwater vehicle first sent the images back. This was a memorable occasion, he recalls.

Numerous of ocean life had settled on the explosives, forming a regenerated habitat denser than the sea floor nearby.

This underwater metropolis was proof to the resilience of life. It is actually remarkable how much marine organisms we discover in locations that are considered hazardous and harmful, he explains.

More than 40 sea stars had gathered on to one visible chunk of explosive material. They were residing on metal shells, fuse pockets and storage boxes just a short distance from its dangerous content. Marine fish, crabs, anemones and bivalves were all observed on the historic weapons. You could compare it with a coral reef in terms of the amount of fauna that was present, notes Vedenin.

Remarkable Creature Concentration

An average of more than forty thousand organisms were dwelling on every meter squared of the munitions, experts documented in their paper on the discovery. The adjacent region was much poorer in life, with only 8,000 individuals on every square metre.

It is paradoxical that objects that are designed to destroy all life are attracting so much marine organisms, explains Vedenin. One can observe how the natural world evolves after a catastrophic event such as the World War II and how, in certain respects, marine life returns to the most dangerous areas.

Man-made Features as Ocean Habitats

Man-made features such as shipwrecks, wind turbines, drilling platforms and pipelines can create replacements, replacing some of the lost habitat. This study shows that munitions could be similarly advantageous – the bloom of marine organisms on those in the Bay of Lübeck is probable to be duplicated elsewhere.

Between the late 1940s and the post-war period, 1.6 million tonnes of weapons were dumped off the Germany's coast. Thousands of workers loaded them in vessels; a portion were dropped in specific areas, others just thrown overboard while traveling. This is the initial instance researchers have studied how ocean organisms has reacted.

Global Examples of Ocean Transformation

• In the United States, decommissioned oil and gas structures have become coral reefs
• Shipwrecks from the World War I have become homes for marine life along the Potomac River in the state of Maryland
• Military vehicle parts that have become habitat to reef-building organisms off Asan in Guam

These locations become even more valuable for organisms as the seas are increasingly depleted by commercial fishing, bottom trawling and anchoring. Sunken ships and munitions areas effectively serve as refuges – they are not official reserves, but nearly any kind of human activity is restricted, states Vedenin. Consequently a numerous of species that are usually uncommon or declining, such as the Baltic cod, are thriving.

Future Issues

Wherever warfare has taken place in the last century, adjacent waters are often strewn with explosives, states Vedenin. Millions of tons of dangerous substances lie in our oceans.

The positions of these weapons are insufficiently documented, partly because of national borders, restricted military information and the situation that archives are buried in old files. They pose an detonation and security hazard, as well as danger from the ongoing leakage of hazardous substances.

As Germany and other countries embark on extracting these remains, researchers aim to protect the ecosystems that have established around them. In the Lübeck Bay munitions are already being removed.

Researchers recommend replace these iron structures left from weapons with certain less dangerous, some harmless objects, like possibly concrete structures, states Vedenin.

He currently hopes that what transpires in Lübeck sets a model for replacing structures after explosive extraction in different areas – because including the most destructive explosives can become framework for new life.