World War II Explosives, Torpedoes and Naval Mines: How Ocean Creatures Flourishes on Discarded Armaments

In the slightly salty waters off the German shoreline sits a wasteland of World War II explosives, torpedo heads and mines. Dumped from barges at the conclusion of the World War II and neglected, countless weapons have accumulated over the years. They create a corroding carpet on the low-depth, silty seafloor of the Bay of Lübeck in the western tip of the Baltic.

Over the decades, the Nazi arsenal was overlooked and forgotten about. A growing number of tourists flocked to the sandy beaches and calm waters for jetskiing, kite surfing and amusement parks. Below the waves, the munitions deteriorated.

Researchers expected to see a barren area, with nothing living there because it was all poisoned, states Andrey Vedenin.

When the first scientists went looking to see what they were affecting to the marine environment, the team expected to see a barren area, with no life because it was all toxic, says a scientist.

What they discovered surprised them. Vedenin recounts his scientists exclaiming in amazement when the ROV first relayed pictures. This was a memorable occasion, he says.

Thousands of ocean life had made their homes amid the munitions, forming a revitalized ecosystem denser than the sea floor surrounding it.

This marine city was testament to the tenacity of life. Truly remarkable how much marine organisms we discover in areas that are supposed to be dangerous and dangerous, he explains.

Over 40 starfish had gathered on to one accessible piece of explosive material. They were residing on metal shells, fuse pockets and transport cases just centimetres from its dangerous content. Fish, crustaceans, sea anemones and mussels were all found on the old munitions. It resembles a coral reef in terms of the amount of animal life that was there, states Vedenin.

Surprising Creature Concentration

An mean of more than forty thousand animals were residing on every meter squared of the weapons, researchers reported in their study on the finding. The nearby seabed was much poorer in life, with only 8,000 organisms on every meter squared.

It is ironic that objects that are meant to destroy all life are attracting so much life, says Vedenin. You can see how nature adjusts after a devastating occurrence such as the second world war and how, in certain respects, life returns to the most dangerous locations.

Artificial Features as Ocean Environments

Man-made features such as shipwrecks, wind turbines, drilling platforms and pipelines can provide substitutes, compensating for some of the lost marine environment. This study shows that munitions could be equally beneficial – the explosion of life on those in the Bay of Lübeck is likely to be duplicated in different areas.

Between the late 1940s and 1948, 1.6m tonnes of weapons were discarded off the German coast. Thousands of people loaded them in boats; a portion were placed in designated areas, the remainder just thrown overboard while traveling. This is the initial instance scientists have documented how marine life has adapted.

Worldwide Examples of Ocean Adaptation

• In the United States, retired energy installations have become coral reefs
• Submerged vessels from the first world war have become habitats for marine life 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 valuable for organisms as the marine environments are increasingly denuded by fishing, bottom trawling and anchoring. Shipwrecks and weapons dump sites essentially serve as protected areas – they are not official reserves, but almost any kind of human activity is restricted, explains Vedenin. Therefore a numerous of organisms that are typically scarce or decreasing, such as the cod fish, are prospering.

Future Issues

Anywhere warfare has happened in the recent history, adjacent waters are often containing explosives, explains Vedenin. Millions of tons of volatile compounds lie in our marine environments.

The sites of these explosives are insufficiently mapped, partially because of national borders, classified defense data and the reality that archives are stored in historical records. They present an detonation and security risk, as well as danger from the continuous emission of toxic chemicals.

As Germany and additional nations start removing these remains, experts hope to safeguard the ecosystems that have developed in their vicinity. In the Lübeck Bay explosives are presently being removed.

It would be wise to replace these metal carcasses originating from munitions with certain more secure, various non-dangerous structures, like maybe man-made habitats, suggests Vedenin.

He presently wishes that what happens in Lübeck establishes a precedent for substituting material after munitions removal in different areas – because also the most harmful armaments can become foundation for ocean ecosystems.