World War II Munitions, Torpedo Heads and Mines: How Ocean Creatures Prosper on Discarded Armaments

In the brackish sea off the German shoreline sits a wasteland of World War II explosives, torpedoes and naval mines. Dumped from vessels at the end of the World War II and forgotten about, numerous weapons have accumulated over the years. They create a corroding carpet on the low-depth, muddy seafloor of the Bay of Lübeck in the western tip of the Baltic.

Over the years, the wartime weapons was overlooked and neglected. A increasing amount of visitors flocked to the sandy beaches and tranquil sea for jetskiing, kiteboarding and entertainment venues. Underwater, the weapons deteriorated.

We initially anticipated to see a lifeless zone, with no organisms because it was all poisoned, explains a scientist.

When the first scientists 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 contaminated, states Andrey Vedenin.

What they observed surprised them. Vedenin recalls his team members exclaiming in amazement when the ROV first relayed pictures. This was a great moment, he notes.

Thousands of marine animals had established habitats among the munitions, creating a revitalized habitat denser than the ocean bottom around it.

This underwater metropolis was evidence to the persistence of marine life. Truly surprising how much life we find in areas that are considered dangerous and dangerous, he explains.

Over 40 sea stars had clustered on to one accessible piece of explosive material. They were dwelling on metal shells, ignition chambers and carrying containers just a short distance from its volatile core. Marine fish, crabs, anemones and mussels were all discovered on the old munitions. It's similar to a coral reef in terms of the quantity of animal life that was present, says Vedenin.

Surprising Population Density

An mean of more than 40,000 organisms were dwelling on every square metre of the munitions, researchers reported in their study on the discovery. The adjacent region was much sparser, with only 8,000 individuals on every square metre.

It is ironic that items that are intended to destroy all life are drawing so much marine organisms, says Vedenin. One can observe how nature adapts after a devastating occurrence such as the World War II and how, in certain respects, life finds its way to the most risky locations.

Man-made Features as Marine Habitats

Man-made features such as shipwrecks, wind turbines, oil rigs and pipelines can provide replacements, replacing some of the destroyed habitat. This investigation shows that weapons could be equally beneficial – the explosion of marine organisms on those in the Lübeck Bay is expected to be duplicated in different areas.

Between the late 1940s and 1948, 1.6 million tons of arms were disposed of off the German coast. Thousands of workers placed them in vessels; a portion were dropped in specific sites, others just dumped during transport. This is the initial instance scientists have studied how marine life has reacted.

Global Instances of Ocean Adaptation

• In the United States, retired oil and gas structures have turned into reef ecosystems
• Sunken ships from the first world war have become homes for wildlife along the Potomac in Maryland
• Tank tracks that have become environment to reef-building organisms off Asan beach in the Pacific island

These places become even more crucial for wildlife as the seas are increasingly depleted by commercial fishing, seafloor dredging and boat mooring. Shipwrecks and weapons dump sites effectively act as protected areas – they are not official reserves, but nearly any kind of anthropogenic disturbance is prohibited, explains Vedenin. Therefore a many of organisms that are typically scarce or decreasing, such as the Baltic cod, are flourishing.

Coming Issues

Anywhere armed conflict has taken place in the last century, surrounding seas are often containing explosives, says Vedenin. Many millions of tons of volatile compounds rest in our marine environments.

The sites of these explosives are insufficiently mapped, partially because of sovereign limits, restricted military information and the reality that archives are hidden in old files. They present an detonation and security danger, as well as risk from the persistent release of hazardous substances.

As Germany and other countries begin removing these relics, scientists plan to preserve the marine communities that have established around them. In the Bay of Lübeck munitions are presently being removed.

We should replace these metal carcasses left from weapons with some less dangerous, various non-dangerous objects, like perhaps concrete structures, suggests Vedenin.

He now aspires that what happens in Lübeck creates a precedent for replacing structures after explosive extraction in different areas – because even the most damaging explosives can become foundation for marine organisms.