World War II Bombs, Torpedo Heads and Mines: How Ocean Creatures Flourishes on Dumped Armaments

In the slightly salty waters off the Germany's shoreline rests a collection of World War II explosives, torpedoes and mines. Thrown off boats at the conclusion of the World War II and left behind, thousands explosives have fused into clusters over the decades. They form a corroding layer on the low-depth, silty ocean floor of the Bay of Lübeck in the western part of the Baltic.

Over the years, the Nazi arsenal was ignored and forgotten about. A growing number of visitors came to the coastal areas and calm waters for jetskiing, kite surfing and entertainment venues. Below the waves, the munitions decayed.

Researchers expected to see a barren area, with no organisms because it was all contaminated, states Andrey Vedenin.

When the first scientists went investigating to see what they were affecting to the marine environment, some of us thought they would find a lifeless zone, with no life because it was all toxic, states the lead researcher.

What they found astonished them. Vedenin remembers his scientists exclaiming in amazement when the underwater vehicle first relayed pictures. It was a remarkable experience, he says.

Numerous of sea creatures had settled among the explosives, forming a renewed marine community more populous than the seabed surrounding it.

This underwater metropolis was evidence to the persistence of marine life. Truly surprising how much marine organisms we observe in areas that are supposed to be hazardous and dangerous, he explains.

In excess of 40 starfish had gathered on to one accessible piece of TNT. They were dwelling on metal shells, detonator compartments and storage boxes just a short distance from its explosive filling. Fish, crabs, anemones and mussels were all discovered on the old munitions. You could compare it with a marine reef in terms of the quantity of fauna that was inhabiting the area, states Vedenin.

Surprising Creature Concentration

An mean of more than 40,000 animals were living on every square metre of the munitions, experts reported in their study on the observation. The adjacent region was much poorer in life, with only 8,000 organisms on every square metre.

It is paradoxical that objects that are designed to eliminate all life are attracting so much marine organisms, says Vedenin. It's evident how the natural world evolves after a devastating occurrence such as the World War II and how, in some way, marine life returns to the most hazardous locations.

Artificial Structures as Marine Habitats

Man-made constructions such as shipwrecks, offshore windfarms, drilling platforms and undersea pipes can create replacements, replacing some of the removed habitat. This investigation reveals that explosives could be equally advantageous – the proliferation of life on those in the Lübeck Bay is likely to be found in other locations.

Between the late 1940s and the post-war period, 1.6 million tonnes of weapons were discarded off the Germany's shoreline. Thousands of people placed them in boats; a portion were deposited in designated locations, the remainder just discarded at sea while traveling. This is the first time researchers have recorded how marine life has reacted.

Global Instances of Marine Transformation

• In the United States, retired oil and gas structures have become reef ecosystems
• Shipwrecks from the World War I have become homes for marine life along the Potomac in Maryland
• Military vehicle parts that have become environment to reef-building organisms off Asan in Guam

These places become even more crucial for marine life as the seas are increasingly stripped by fishing, bottom trawling and anchoring. Shipwrecks and explosive disposal locations essentially serve as protected areas – they are not national parks, but almost any kind of anthropogenic disturbance is banned, states Vedenin. Consequently a numerous of species that are otherwise uncommon or diminishing, such as the Baltic cod, are prospering.

Future Considerations

Anywhere military conflict has occurred in the last century, surrounding seas are usually littered with explosives, states Vedenin. Millions of tonnes of dangerous substances lie in our marine environments.

The positions of these weapons are poorly documented, in part because of international boundaries, secret military information and the reality that documents are hidden in historic archives. They present an explosion and security hazard, as well as risk from the ongoing release of poisonous compounds.

As the German government and other countries start extracting these relics, experts hope to preserve the habitats that have established in their vicinity. In the Lübeck Bay weapons are presently being cleared.

It would be wise to substitute these metal carcasses remaining from munitions with certain safer, some non-dangerous objects, like maybe concrete structures, suggests Vedenin.

He currently hopes that what happens in Lübeck sets a example for substituting structures after munitions removal in other locations – because also the most destructive armaments can become foundation for new life.