World War II Explosives, Torpedoes and Mines: How Marine Life Prosper on Dumped Weapons

In the slightly salty waters off the German shoreline rests a wasteland of Nazi bombs, torpedo heads and naval mines. Discarded from boats at the end of the second world war and left behind, countless weapons have accumulated over the decades. They comprise a rusting carpet on the shallow, muddy seafloor of the Lübeck Bay in the western tip of the Baltic.

Over the decades, the Nazi arsenal was overlooked and forgotten about. A increasing amount of visitors came to the coastal areas and tranquil sea for water sports, kiteboarding and entertainment venues. Below the waves, the munitions eroded.

We initially anticipated to see a desert, with no organisms because it was all poisoned, says a scientist.

When the first scientists went looking to see what they were affecting to the ecosystem, some of us thought they would find a lifeless zone, with nothing living there because it was all contaminated, says Andrey Vedenin.

What they discovered amazed them. Vedenin recounts his colleagues exclaiming in amazement when the ROV first transmitted footage. That moment was a great moment, he says.

Thousands of sea creatures had made their homes amid the weapons, developing a revitalized habitat denser than the sea floor around it.

This ocean community was testament to the tenacity of life. Truly remarkable how much life we observe in places that are considered dangerous and dangerous, he says.

Over 40 starfish had clustered on to one visible piece of explosive material. They were dwelling on steel casings, fuse pockets and carrying containers just a short distance from its volatile core. Fish, crabs, sea anemones and bivalves were all found on the old munitions. You could compare it with a marine reef in terms of the abundance of animal life that was inhabiting the area, notes Vedenin.

Surprising Creature Concentration

An average of more than forty thousand organisms were living on every square metre of the explosives, scientists wrote in their research on the finding. The nearby seabed was much less diverse, with only 8,000 individuals on every meter squared.

It is ironic that objects that are intended to eliminate everything are drawing so much life, states Vedenin. It's evident how nature adjusts after a devastating occurrence such as the second world war and how, in certain respects, life finds its way to the most hazardous areas.

Artificial Features as Marine Habitats

Man-made features such as shipwrecks, wind turbines, drilling platforms and undersea pipes can offer substitutes, compensating for some of the lost habitat. This research reveals that weapons could be equally beneficial – the proliferation of marine organisms on those in the Bay of Lübeck is likely to be repeated in different areas.

Between the late 1940s and the post-war period, 1.6m tons of munitions were disposed of off the German shoreline. Numerous of individuals loaded them in boats; a portion were placed in designated sites, the remainder just dumped while traveling. This is the initial instance researchers have documented how marine life has adapted.

Global Instances of Marine Transformation

• In the US, retired drilling platforms have turned into reef ecosystems
• Shipwrecks from the first world war have become habitats for marine life along the Potomac in the state of Maryland
• Military vehicle parts that have become environment to reef-building organisms off Asan in the Pacific island

These locations become even more valuable for marine life as the marine environments are increasingly depleted by commercial fishing, bottom trawling and anchoring. Sunken ships and munitions areas practically act as sanctuaries – they are not national parks, but virtually any kind of anthropogenic disturbance is banned, says Vedenin. Consequently a lot of marine species that are usually scarce or declining, such as the cod fish, are thriving.

Coming Factors

Anywhere military conflict has happened in the past 100 years, surrounding seas are often containing weapons, says Vedenin. Millions of tonnes of volatile compounds remain in our seas.

The sites of these munitions are insufficiently recorded, partially because of sovereign limits, secret military information and the reality that archives are hidden in old files. They pose an detonation and security danger, as well as danger from the continuous leakage of hazardous substances.

As Germany and additional nations begin extracting these artifacts, experts hope to preserve the marine communities that have developed nearby. In the Lübeck Bay explosives are presently being extracted.

It would be wise to replace these metal carcasses remaining from munitions with certain more secure, various safe objects, like maybe concrete structures, says Vedenin.

He presently hopes that what occurs in Lübeck creates a example for substituting habitats after munitions removal in other locations – because including the most harmful explosives can become foundation for new life.