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

In the slightly salty waters off the German shoreline rests a graveyard of Nazi bombs, torpedo heads and mines. Thrown off vessels at the conclusion of the second world war and neglected, countless explosives have accumulated over the decades. They create a corroding blanket on the shallow, silty seafloor of the Lübeck Bay in the western tip of the Baltic Sea.

Over the decades, the Nazi arsenal was overlooked and forgotten about. A increasing amount of tourists came to the coastal areas and calm waters for jetskiing, kite surfing and entertainment venues. Below the waves, the weapons eroded.

Some of us anticipated to see a lifeless zone, with no life because it was all toxic, says a scientist.

When the team went investigating to see what they were affecting to the marine environment, researchers thought they would find a lifeless zone, with no life because it was all toxic, states a scientist.

What they discovered surprised them. Vedenin remembers his team members exclaiming in amazement when the underwater vehicle first sent the images back. That moment was a great moment, he says.

Numerous of marine animals had settled among the munitions, creating a regenerated ecosystem more populous than the ocean bottom surrounding it.

This ocean community was proof to the persistence of marine life. Indeed surprising how much marine organisms we observe in places that are expected to be toxic and risky, he explains.

More than 40 sea stars had gathered on to one accessible chunk of TNT. They were dwelling on metal shells, detonator compartments and storage boxes just a short distance from its volatile core. Fish, crustaceans, anemones and bivalves were all found on the discarded explosives. It's similar to a reef ecosystem in terms of the quantity of creatures that was there, says Vedenin.

Unexpected Creature Concentration

An average of more than 40,000 creatures were dwelling on every square metre of the munitions, experts wrote in their research on the finding. The adjacent region was much sparser, with only eight thousand creatures on every meter squared.

It is ironic that items that are designed to kill everything are drawing so much marine organisms, says Vedenin. It's evident how the natural world evolves after a major disaster such as the World War II and how, in certain respects, life returns to the most dangerous locations.

Man-made Structures as Ocean Environments

Artificial constructions such as sunken vessels, wind turbines, oil rigs and undersea pipes can provide alternatives, compensating for some of the removed habitat. This investigation demonstrates that weapons could be equally positive – the bloom of life on those in the Bay of Lübeck is probable to be found in other locations.

Between 1946 and the post-war period, 1.6 million tonnes of weapons were dumped off the Germany's coast. Thousands of workers transported them in boats; some were deposited in specific areas, others just discarded at sea while traveling. This is the first time experts have recorded how marine life has adapted.

Worldwide Examples of Marine Adaptation

• In the US, retired drilling platforms have become marine habitats
• Sunken ships from the first world war have become homes for wildlife along the Potomac River in Maryland
• Military vehicle parts that have become environment to reef-building organisms off Asan in the Pacific island

These locations become even more valuable for organisms as the marine environments are increasingly stripped by fishing, bottom trawling and boat mooring. Shipwrecks and munitions areas essentially act as protected areas – they are not national parks, but virtually any kind of human activity is restricted, states Vedenin. Therefore a numerous of organisms that are typically scarce or diminishing, such as the cod fish, are prospering.

Coming Issues

Anywhere armed conflict has taken place in the past 100 years, nearby oceans are often littered with weapons, states Vedenin. Many millions of tons of explosive material remain in our oceans.

The sites of these explosives are poorly documented, in part because of national borders, restricted defense data and the reality that records are hidden in old files. They pose an explosion and safety risk, as well as threat from the continuous release of poisonous compounds.

As Germany and different states embark on extracting these artifacts, scientists hope to protect the marine communities that have developed in their vicinity. In the Lübeck Bay weapons are already being extracted.

It would be wise to substitute these steel remains originating from munitions with some more secure, some harmless structures, like maybe man-made habitats, says Vedenin.

He now aspires that what occurs in Lübeck establishes a model for replacing habitats after munitions removal in other locations – because including the most harmful armaments can become foundation for new life.