World War II Bombs, Torpedoes and Naval Mines: The Way Ocean Creatures Prosper on Discarded Weapons

In the brackish waters off the Germany's coast sits a collection of World War II explosives, torpedo heads and mines. Thrown off barges at the conclusion of the World War II and forgotten about, countless explosives have accumulated over the years. They form a decaying carpet on the shallow, silty ocean floor of the Bay of Lübeck in the western part of the Baltic.

Over the years, the Nazi arsenal was overlooked and neglected. A growing number of tourists traveled to the sandy beaches and tranquil sea for water sports, kiteboarding and entertainment venues. Beneath the surface, the munitions decayed.

We initially expected to see a lifeless zone, with nothing living there because it was all poisoned, says Andrey Vedenin.

When the initial researchers went investigating to see what they were affecting to the ecosystem, researchers anticipated finding a barren area, with no organisms because it was all contaminated, states a scientist.

What they found amazed them. Vedenin recalls his team members shouting with surprise when the submersible first relayed pictures. This was a remarkable experience, he recalls.

Countless of marine animals had established habitats among the munitions, forming a renewed habitat denser than the ocean bottom around it.

This marine city was testament to the tenacity of marine life. Indeed remarkable how much marine organisms we observe in areas that are supposed to be hazardous and harmful, he states.

Over 40 sea stars had clustered on to one visible chunk of explosive material. They were living on metal shells, detonator compartments and storage boxes just a short distance from its explosive filling. Fish, crabs, sea anemones and bivalves were all discovered 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, states Vedenin.

Unexpected Creature Concentration

An mean of more than forty thousand organisms were living on every square metre of the explosives, researchers documented in their study on the observation. The adjacent region was much less diverse, with only 8,000 organisms on every square metre.

It is ironic that things that are meant to eliminate all life are drawing so much life, states Vedenin. It's evident how nature adapts after a major disaster such as the second world war and how, in some way, life finds its way to the most risky locations.

Artificial Features as Ocean Environments

Artificial structures such as shipwrecks, offshore windfarms, drilling platforms and undersea pipes can create alternatives, compensating for some of the removed habitat. This study reveals that munitions could be comparably positive – the explosion of life on those in the Bay of Lübeck is likely to be found in other locations.

Between 1946 and 1948, 1.6 million tons of munitions were dumped off the Germany's coast. Countless of people placed them in barges; a portion were deposited in allocated sites, the remainder just dumped during transport. This is the initial instance experts have studied how marine life has adapted.

Worldwide Instances of Ocean Transformation

• In the United States, decommissioned oil and gas structures have become coral reefs
• Submerged vessels from the World War I have become environments for wildlife along the Potomac River in the state of Maryland
• Military vehicle parts that have become home to coral off Asan beach in the Pacific island

These areas become even more important for wildlife as the marine environments are increasingly stripped by fishing, seafloor dredging and anchoring. Shipwrecks and weapons dump sites effectively function as sanctuaries – they are not official reserves, but almost any kind of anthropogenic disturbance is prohibited, says Vedenin. Consequently a numerous of marine species that are usually rare or declining, such as the cod fish, are flourishing.

Future Issues

Wherever military conflict has taken place in the last century, adjacent waters are usually containing explosives, says Vedenin. Millions of tonnes of dangerous substances rest in our oceans.

The positions of these weapons are inadequately mapped, in part because of sovereign limits, secret armed forces records and the fact that records are buried in old files. They pose an detonation and security danger, as well as threat from the persistent emission of poisonous compounds.

As the German government and additional nations embark on clearing these remains, experts hope to preserve the ecosystems that have formed nearby. In the Lübeck Bay explosives are presently being removed.

It would be wise to replace these metal carcasses originating from munitions with some less dangerous, various safe objects, like maybe concrete structures, suggests Vedenin.

He now wishes that what transpires in Lübeck creates a model for substituting habitats after explosive extraction in other locations – because also the most damaging weaponry can become foundation for ocean ecosystems.