World War II Explosives, Torpedoes and Naval Mines: How Marine Life Prosper on Abandoned Weapons

In the slightly salty sea off the German shoreline sits a graveyard of Nazi bombs, torpedo heads and naval mines. Discarded from vessels at the conclusion of the World War II and neglected, thousands munitions have become matted together over the years. They comprise a decaying layer on the low-depth, silty ocean floor of the Bay of Lübeck in the western tip of the Baltic.

Over the years, the Nazi arsenal was ignored and neglected. A increasing amount of tourists flocked to the sandy beaches and tranquil sea for jetskiing, kiteboarding and amusement parks. Underwater, the weapons decayed.

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

When the first scientists went searching to see what they were doing to the marine environment, the team expected to see a lifeless zone, with no life because it was all poisoned, explains the lead researcher.

What they found astonished them. Vedenin recounts his scientists exclaiming in amazement when the underwater vehicle first transmitted footage. This was a memorable occasion, he says.

Thousands of marine animals had established habitats among the munitions, creating a revitalized habitat richer than the sea floor surrounding it.

This ocean community was evidence to the persistence of marine life. Indeed surprising how much marine organisms we discover in locations that are considered toxic and harmful, he explains.

More than 40 sea stars had clustered on to one accessible piece of explosive material. They were residing on metal shells, ignition chambers and transport cases just a short distance from its explosive filling. Fish, crustaceans, anemones and mussels were all observed on the historic weapons. It resembles a coral reef in terms of the abundance of animal life that was present, states Vedenin.

Surprising Population Density

An mean of more than forty thousand organisms were living on every square metre of the munitions, researchers reported in their paper on the observation. The nearby seabed was much poorer in life, with only eight thousand individuals on every square metre.

It is paradoxical that items that are intended to eliminate everything are attracting so much marine organisms, says Vedenin. It's evident how the natural world adapts after a devastating occurrence such as the World War II and how, in some way, life establishes itself to the most risky areas.

Man-made Structures as Ocean Habitats

Artificial structures such as shipwrecks, offshore windfarms, oil rigs and undersea pipes can provide alternatives, compensating for some of the lost habitat. This study reveals that weapons could be comparably positive – the proliferation of life on those in the Lübeck Bay is expected to be duplicated in other locations.

Between the late 1940s and the post-war period, 1.6 million tonnes of munitions were dumped off the German coast. Numerous of individuals placed them in vessels; a portion were dropped in designated areas, the remainder just discarded at sea while traveling. This is the first time researchers have studied how ocean organisms has reacted.

Global Instances of Ocean Transformation

• In the US, retired energy installations have turned into reef ecosystems
• Sunken ships from the first world war have become homes for wildlife along the Potomac River in Maryland
• Military vehicle parts that have become home to coral off Asan in the Pacific island

These places become even more valuable for marine life as the marine environments are increasingly stripped by fishing, seafloor dredging and anchoring. Shipwrecks and munitions areas effectively act as refuges – they are not national parks, but virtually any kind of human activity is prohibited, explains Vedenin. As a result a many of species that are typically scarce or declining, such as the Baltic cod, are thriving.

Coming Factors

Wherever warfare has happened in the recent history, surrounding seas are usually containing explosives, states Vedenin. Millions of tons of explosive material rest in our marine environments.

The locations of these munitions are inadequately documented, partly because of national borders, secret military information and the reality that documents are buried in historical records. They create an explosion and safety danger, as well as risk from the ongoing emission of hazardous substances.

As Germany and other countries embark on clearing these remains, researchers aim to protect the ecosystems that have established in their vicinity. In the Bay of Lübeck weapons are already being cleared.

Researchers recommend substitute these iron structures originating from weapons with some less dangerous, various safe structures, like possibly artificial reefs, suggests Vedenin.

He currently hopes that what occurs in the Bay of Lübeck sets a precedent for substituting material after explosive extraction elsewhere – because including the most destructive explosives can become scaffolding for marine organisms.