World War II Bombs, Torpedo Heads and Mines: The Way Marine Life Prosper on Discarded Armaments

In the slightly salty sea off the German shoreline lies a wasteland of World War II explosives, torpedoes and naval mines. Discarded from vessels at the end of the second world war and left behind, numerous munitions have fused into clusters over the years. They form a decaying layer on the low-depth, silty ocean floor of the Bay of Lübeck in the western part of the Baltic Sea.

Over the years, the Nazi arsenal was overlooked and neglected. A growing number of tourists flocked to the sandy beaches and calm waters for jetskiing, kite surfing and amusement parks. Beneath the surface, the munitions deteriorated.

Researchers thought to see a desert, with nothing living there because it was all contaminated, says a scientist.

When the team went investigating to see what they were affecting to the marine environment, some of us anticipated finding a desert, with nothing living there because it was all toxic, says Andrey Vedenin.

What they discovered amazed them. Vedenin recalls his scientists reacting with shock when the underwater vehicle first sent the images back. It was a remarkable experience, he notes.

Thousands of ocean life had made their homes amid the explosives, developing a revitalized marine community more populous than the seabed surrounding it.

This marine city was proof to the tenacity of marine life. Truly remarkable how much life we observe in locations that are expected to be dangerous and harmful, he explains.

Over 40 sea stars had clustered on to one exposed fragment of explosive material. They were residing on steel casings, ignition chambers and storage boxes just a short distance from its dangerous content. Marine fish, crabs, anemones and mussels were all observed on the old munitions. You could compare it with a reef ecosystem in terms of the amount of fauna that was there, notes Vedenin.

Surprising Population Density

An mean of more than 40,000 organisms were dwelling on every meter squared of the explosives, experts wrote in their study on the observation. The surrounding area was much less diverse, with only eight thousand creatures on every meter squared.

It is paradoxical that objects that are designed to kill everything are drawing so much life, says Vedenin. You can see how nature adapts after a catastrophic event such as the second world war and how, in some way, life establishes itself to the most risky locations.

Man-made Features as Marine Habitats

Man-made structures such as sunken vessels, offshore windfarms, oil rigs and pipelines can provide replacements, compensating for some of the destroyed marine environment. This investigation demonstrates that munitions could be equally beneficial – the explosion of marine organisms on those in the Lübeck Bay is likely to be found in other locations.

Between the late 1940s and 1948, 1.6m tons of arms were dumped off the Germany's shoreline. Numerous of individuals placed them in boats; a portion were dropped in specific areas, the remainder just thrown overboard while traveling. This is the initial instance experts have documented how ocean organisms has adapted.

Worldwide Instances of Marine Transformation

• In the US, retired drilling platforms have turned into reef ecosystems
• Shipwrecks from the first world war have become homes for marine life along the Potomac River in the state of Maryland
• Tank tracks that have become environment to coral off Asan in the Pacific island

These places become even more important for wildlife as the marine environments are increasingly depleted by commercial fishing, bottom trawling and anchoring. Shipwrecks and munitions areas essentially serve as sanctuaries – they are not national parks, but almost any kind of human activity is banned, says Vedenin. Therefore a numerous of marine species that are otherwise scarce or declining, such as the cod fish, are prospering.

Future Considerations

Anywhere warfare has taken place in the last century, adjacent waters are usually strewn with weapons, says Vedenin. Millions of tonnes of explosive material rest in our seas.

The locations of these weapons are inadequately mapped, partly because of sovereign limits, classified defense data and the fact that documents are buried in old files. They pose an detonation and security risk, as well as threat from the persistent emission of poisonous compounds.

As the German government and different states embark on extracting these artifacts, scientists aim to safeguard the habitats that have established in their vicinity. In the Lübeck Bay explosives are presently being cleared.

We should substitute these steel remains remaining from munitions with some less dangerous, various non-dangerous structures, like perhaps concrete structures, suggests Vedenin.

He currently wishes that what transpires in the Bay of Lübeck establishes a example for replacing structures after explosive extraction in different areas – because including the most destructive explosives can become foundation for new life.