World War II Explosives, Torpedoes and Mines: How Ocean Creatures Prosper on Discarded Armaments

In the brackish sea off the Germany's coast lies a graveyard of Nazi bombs, torpedo heads and mines. Dumped from vessels at the end of the second world war and left behind, thousands explosives have fused into clusters over the decades. They create a decaying carpet on the shallow, silty seafloor of the Lübeck Bay in the western part of the Baltic.

Over the years, the explosive stockpile was ignored and forgotten about. A increasing amount of visitors traveled to the coastal areas and calm waters for jetskiing, kite surfing and entertainment venues. Beneath the surface, the weapons eroded.

We initially thought to see a desert, with no life because it was all toxic, explains Andrey Vedenin.

When the initial researchers went investigating to see what they were affecting to the marine environment, some of us anticipated finding a barren area, with no organisms because it was all poisoned, says Andrey Vedenin.

What they observed amazed them. Vedenin remembers his colleagues shouting with surprise when the submersible first relayed pictures. It was a great moment, he says.

Numerous of ocean life had settled on the weapons, creating a renewed habitat richer than the sea floor surrounding it.

This marine city was testament to the resilience of marine life. Truly remarkable how much marine organisms we observe in places that are considered hazardous and dangerous, he states.

Over 40 sea stars had gathered on to one exposed chunk of explosive material. They were dwelling on metal shells, detonator compartments and carrying containers just centimetres from its explosive filling. Fish, crabs, sea anemones and mussels were all observed on the historic weapons. It's similar to a coral reef in terms of the abundance of animal life that was present, notes Vedenin.

Remarkable Creature Concentration

An mean of more than 40,000 creatures were dwelling on every meter squared of the munitions, scientists documented in their paper on the observation. The surrounding area was much sparser, with only eight thousand creatures on every meter squared.

It is surprising that objects that are intended to eliminate all life are attracting so much life, says Vedenin. One can observe how nature adjusts after a catastrophic event such as the World War II and how, in certain respects, marine life returns to the most risky places.

Man-made Structures as Marine Environments

Artificial features such as shipwrecks, offshore windfarms, drilling platforms and undersea pipes can create alternatives, restoring some of the removed habitat. This research shows that explosives could be comparably advantageous – the proliferation of marine organisms on those in the Bay of Lübeck is likely to be duplicated in other locations.

Between 1946 and the post-war period, 1.6m tonnes of arms were disposed of off the Germany's coast. Thousands of workers loaded them in boats; some were deposited in allocated locations, others just dumped during transport. This is the initial instance scientists have recorded how ocean organisms has responded.

Global Examples of Marine Adaptation

• In the US, retired energy installations have become reef ecosystems
• Sunken ships from the first world war have become environments for creatures along the Potomac River in Maryland
• Military vehicle parts that have become habitat to coral off Asan beach in Guam

These locations become even more crucial for marine life as the marine environments are increasingly stripped by commercial fishing, bottom trawling and anchoring. Shipwrecks and weapons dump sites practically act as refuges – they are not official reserves, but almost any kind of human activity is restricted, says Vedenin. As a result a many of organisms that are typically scarce or diminishing, such as the Baltic cod, are thriving.

Future Issues

Anywhere armed conflict has taken place in the past 100 years, nearby oceans are usually containing explosives, states Vedenin. Millions of tonnes of explosive material remain in our marine environments.

The locations of these weapons are insufficiently documented, partially because of national borders, classified defense data and the fact that archives are hidden in historical records. They create an detonation and safety hazard, as well as threat from the persistent release of hazardous substances.

As the German government and other countries begin removing these artifacts, researchers hope to safeguard the habitats that have formed in their vicinity. In the Bay of Lübeck munitions are already being cleared.

Researchers recommend replace these metal carcasses originating from munitions with certain safer, some harmless structures, like perhaps man-made habitats, states Vedenin.

He presently aspires that what occurs in Lübeck sets a model for replacing structures after weapon clearance elsewhere – because even the most damaging explosives can become scaffolding for ocean ecosystems.