World War II Bombs, Torpedo Heads and Mines: How Marine Life Prosper on Discarded Weapons

In the brackish waters off the Germany's coast rests a graveyard of World War II explosives, torpedo heads and naval mines. Dumped from vessels at the conclusion of the World War II and left behind, numerous explosives have become matted together over the years. They create a corroding blanket on the low-depth, muddy ocean floor of the Lübeck Bay in the western tip of the Baltic Sea.

Over the years, the explosive stockpile was overlooked and forgotten about. A increasing amount of tourists traveled to the coastal areas and tranquil sea for jetskiing, kiteboarding and amusement parks. Beneath the surface, the weapons eroded.

Some of us expected to see a lifeless zone, with nothing living there because it was all toxic, explains Andrey Vedenin.

When the first scientists went searching to see what they were doing to the ecosystem, the team thought they would find a desert, with no life because it was all poisoned, says Andrey Vedenin.

What they observed amazed them. Vedenin recounts his colleagues shouting with surprise when the ROV first relayed pictures. It was a remarkable experience, he says.

Countless of sea creatures had made their homes on the explosives, creating a revitalized marine community richer than the sea floor around it.

This underwater metropolis was testament to the tenacity of marine life. It is actually remarkable how much marine organisms we observe in places that are considered toxic and dangerous, he says.

Over 40 starfish had gathered on to one visible fragment of TNT. They were residing on iron containers, detonator compartments and carrying containers just centimetres from its dangerous content. Fish, crabs, anemones and mussels were all discovered on the historic weapons. You could compare it with a reef ecosystem in terms of the abundance of creatures that was inhabiting the area, notes Vedenin.

Remarkable Creature Concentration

An mean of more than 40,000 organisms were dwelling on every square metre of the weapons, experts wrote in their research on the finding. The adjacent region was much poorer in life, with only 8,000 individuals on every square metre.

It is paradoxical that objects that are meant to destroy all life are drawing so much life, states Vedenin. It's evident how nature adjusts after a major disaster such as the World War II and how, in some way, marine life returns to the most dangerous areas.

Man-made Features as Ocean Habitats

Man-made features such as sunken vessels, wind turbines, oil rigs and pipelines can provide substitutes, compensating for some of the lost marine environment. This study reveals that explosives could be comparably positive – the bloom of life on those in the Bay of Lübeck is expected to be found in other locations.

Between 1946 and 1948, 1.6 million tonnes of munitions were discarded off the German shoreline. Thousands of workers loaded them in boats; some were deposited in designated locations, others just discarded at sea en route. This is the initial instance researchers have recorded how ocean organisms has responded.

Worldwide Instances of Ocean Transformation

• In the US, decommissioned drilling platforms have turned into reef ecosystems
• Submerged vessels from the World War I have become homes for creatures along the Potomac in the state of Maryland
• Military vehicle parts that have become home to reef-building organisms off Asan beach in the Pacific island

These locations become even more valuable for organisms as the oceans are increasingly depleted by fishing, seafloor dredging and anchoring. Sunken ships and weapons dump sites essentially act as refuges – they are not official reserves, but nearly any kind of human activity is banned, says Vedenin. As a result a numerous of species that are usually uncommon or decreasing, such as the cod fish, are flourishing.

Coming Issues

Wherever military conflict has happened in the past 100 years, adjacent waters are typically littered with weapons, says Vedenin. Millions of tonnes of dangerous substances lie in our marine environments.

The sites of these munitions are poorly recorded, in part because of national borders, classified armed forces records and the reality that records are stored in historical records. They create an detonation and security hazard, as well as risk from the ongoing leakage of toxic chemicals.

As the German government and other countries begin removing these relics, scientists hope to safeguard the ecosystems that have developed around them. In the Lübeck Bay explosives are currently being extracted.

We should replace these metal carcasses remaining from munitions with some less dangerous, various non-dangerous objects, like possibly concrete structures, states Vedenin.

He presently wishes that what transpires in the Bay of Lübeck creates a example for replacing structures after explosive extraction in different areas – because including the most harmful weaponry can become foundation for ocean ecosystems.