World War II Munitions, Torpedo Heads and Mines: The Way Ocean Creatures Prosper on Dumped Weapons

In the brackish waters off the German coast lies a collection of Nazi bombs, torpedoes and mines. Thrown off vessels at the conclusion of the second world war and forgotten about, countless explosives have become matted together over the decades. They comprise a decaying layer on the low-depth, muddy ocean floor of the Bay of Lübeck in the western part of the Baltic.

Over the decades, the wartime weapons was ignored and neglected. A increasing amount of visitors flocked to the sandy beaches and tranquil sea for water sports, kiteboarding and entertainment venues. Underwater, the munitions deteriorated.

Some of us anticipated to see a barren area, with no life because it was all contaminated, states Andrey Vedenin.

When the team went searching to see what they were affecting to the ecosystem, researchers thought they would find a desert, with nothing living there because it was all toxic, states a scientist.

What they discovered astonished them. Vedenin recounts his scientists exclaiming in amazement when the submersible first relayed pictures. It was a great moment, he notes.

Numerous of marine animals had established habitats amid the munitions, developing a revitalized marine community denser than the ocean bottom around it.

This ocean community was proof to the persistence of marine life. Truly remarkable how much marine organisms we observe in locations that are supposed to be hazardous and dangerous, he states.

In excess of 40 starfish had clustered on to one visible fragment of TNT. They were dwelling on metal shells, ignition chambers and storage boxes just a short distance from its volatile core. Fish, crustaceans, sea anemones and bivalves were all observed on the historic weapons. It's similar to a marine reef in terms of the abundance of creatures that was present, states Vedenin.

Remarkable Creature Concentration

An mean of more than forty thousand creatures were residing on every square metre of the explosives, experts documented in their research on the discovery. The nearby seabed was much less diverse, with only eight thousand creatures on every meter squared.

It is surprising that objects that are meant to kill everything are attracting so much life, explains Vedenin. One can observe how nature evolves after a major disaster such as the World War II and how, in certain respects, marine life finds its way to the most dangerous locations.

Artificial Features as Marine Environments

Man-made structures such as sunken vessels, offshore windfarms, drilling platforms and pipelines can offer substitutes, replacing some of the destroyed habitat. This study reveals that explosives could be similarly positive – the proliferation of life on those in the Lübeck Bay is likely to be found elsewhere.

Between the late 1940s and the post-war period, 1.6m tons of arms were disposed of off the Germany's coast. Numerous of workers placed them in boats; some were dropped in specific locations, others just dumped while traveling. This is the initial instance researchers have recorded how ocean organisms has reacted.

Global Instances of Marine Adaptation

• In the United States, decommissioned oil and gas structures have transformed into reef ecosystems
• Sunken ships from the World War I have become homes for marine life along the Potomac in the state of Maryland
• Military vehicle parts that have become habitat to reef-building organisms off Asan in the Pacific island

These areas become even more crucial for marine life as the marine environments are increasingly depleted by fishing, seafloor dredging and boat mooring. Shipwrecks and weapons dump sites essentially act as refuges – they are not official reserves, but nearly any kind of anthropogenic disturbance is prohibited, explains Vedenin. As a result a many of organisms that are typically uncommon or diminishing, such as the cod fish, are thriving.

Future Considerations

Anywhere armed conflict has happened in the last century, surrounding seas are often strewn with weapons, says Vedenin. Millions of tons of dangerous substances rest in our oceans.

The locations of these explosives are inadequately recorded, in part because of international boundaries, secret armed forces records and the fact that archives are hidden in historic archives. They present an explosion and safety danger, as well as risk from the ongoing leakage of hazardous substances.

As the German government and different states embark on removing these relics, scientists hope to preserve the habitats that have formed nearby. In the Bay of Lübeck explosives are presently being cleared.

It would be wise to replace these iron structures left from munitions with some less dangerous, some safe materials, like perhaps artificial reefs, says Vedenin.

He presently aspires that what happens in Lübeck sets a example for replacing structures after explosive extraction in other locations – because even the most harmful explosives can become framework for new life.