World War II Explosives, Torpedo Heads and Mines: How Ocean Creatures Flourishes on Discarded Armaments

In the slightly salty sea off the German coast lies a collection of Nazi bombs, torpedoes and naval mines. Thrown off vessels at the end of the World War II and forgotten about, thousands explosives have accumulated over the years. They create a rusting blanket on the shallow, muddy seafloor of the Bay of Lübeck in the western tip of the Baltic Sea.

Over the decades, the Nazi arsenal was overlooked and neglected. A growing number of visitors flocked to the sandy beaches and tranquil sea for water sports, kiteboarding and amusement parks. Beneath the surface, the munitions deteriorated.

Some of us anticipated to see a barren area, with no organisms because it was all poisoned, states a scientist.

When the initial researchers went investigating to see what they were doing to the ecosystem, the team expected to see a barren area, with no organisms because it was all poisoned, states the lead researcher.

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

Countless of ocean life had established habitats amid the munitions, creating a revitalized marine community denser than the ocean bottom nearby.

This underwater metropolis was testament to the tenacity of life. Indeed astonishing how much marine organisms we find in locations that are considered toxic and dangerous, he says.

More than 40 sea stars had clustered on to one exposed piece of explosive material. They were dwelling on metal shells, detonator compartments and carrying containers just centimetres from its explosive filling. Marine fish, crabs, anemones and bivalves were all observed on the historic weapons. You could compare it with a coral reef in terms of the quantity of animal life that was present, says Vedenin.

Unexpected Population Density

An mean of more than 40,000 creatures were dwelling on every meter squared of the munitions, experts wrote in their study on the observation. The adjacent region was much sparser, with only 8,000 creatures on every square metre.

It is surprising that things that are intended to kill everything are hosting so much marine organisms, explains Vedenin. It's evident how the natural world adjusts after a major disaster such as the second world war and how, in some way, marine life returns to the most dangerous locations.

Artificial Features as Ocean Environments

Artificial features such as sunken vessels, wind turbines, drilling platforms and undersea pipes can provide replacements, restoring some of the destroyed marine environment. This research demonstrates that weapons could be comparably beneficial – the explosion of life on those in the Bay of Lübeck is probable to be repeated in other locations.

Between 1946 and 1948, 1.6m tons of weapons were dumped off the Germany's shoreline. Thousands of people placed them in barges; a portion were deposited in allocated sites, others just thrown overboard en route. This is the initial instance scientists have studied how marine life has reacted.

Worldwide Instances of Ocean Transformation

• In the US, retired energy installations have turned into coral reefs
• Sunken ships from the World War I have become habitats for marine life along the Potomac River in Maryland
• Tank tracks that have become environment to coral off Asan beach in Guam

These areas become even more crucial for wildlife as the oceans are increasingly stripped by commercial fishing, seafloor dredging and anchoring. Shipwrecks and munitions areas effectively function as protected areas – they are not national parks, but virtually any kind of human activity is banned, states Vedenin. As a result a numerous of marine species that are usually rare or declining, such as the cod fish, are thriving.

Future Issues

Anywhere warfare has occurred in the last century, nearby oceans are usually containing munitions, says Vedenin. Many millions of tons of explosive material rest in our marine environments.

The locations of these munitions are inadequately documented, partly because of national borders, restricted military information and the situation that documents are buried in historical records. They create an explosion and security hazard, as well as threat from the continuous emission of toxic chemicals.

As the German government and additional nations start clearing these remains, researchers aim to preserve the habitats that have formed nearby. In the Lübeck Bay munitions are currently being removed.

We should substitute these iron structures left from weapons with some less dangerous, some safe materials, like possibly concrete structures, suggests Vedenin.

He currently aspires that what occurs in Lübeck sets a precedent for replacing habitats after explosive extraction in different areas – because even the most damaging weaponry can become framework for new life.