World War II Bombs, Torpedoes and Mines: The Way Marine Life Thrives on Discarded Weapons

In the slightly salty waters off the German shoreline rests a graveyard of Nazi bombs, torpedo heads and mines. Thrown off barges at the conclusion of the World War II and forgotten about, thousands explosives have fused into clusters over the years. They form a corroding blanket on the shallow, silty seafloor of the Lübeck Bay in the western tip of the Baltic.

Over the years, the Nazi arsenal was overlooked and forgotten about. A growing number of tourists came to the coastal areas and tranquil sea for jetskiing, kiteboarding and entertainment venues. Below the waves, the weapons deteriorated.

We initially expected to see a barren area, with no organisms because it was all contaminated, states Andrey Vedenin.

When the first scientists went searching to see what they were doing to the ecosystem, the team thought they would find a lifeless zone, with no organisms because it was all toxic, says a scientist.

What they discovered astonished them. Vedenin recounts his team members reacting with shock when the underwater vehicle first relayed pictures. It was a memorable occasion, he says.

Countless of sea creatures had settled on the weapons, developing a regenerated ecosystem denser than the ocean bottom surrounding it.

This ocean community was proof to the resilience of marine life. Truly surprising how much life we find in areas that are considered toxic and risky, he explains.

Over 40 starfish had clustered on to one exposed piece of TNT. They were dwelling on metal shells, fuse pockets and carrying containers just centimetres from its explosive filling. Fish, crustaceans, sea anemones and bivalves were all found on the old munitions. It's similar to a reef ecosystem in terms of the amount of fauna that was inhabiting the area, notes Vedenin.

Surprising Creature Concentration

An mean of more than forty thousand organisms were dwelling on every meter squared of the explosives, researchers wrote in their research on the finding. The adjacent region was much sparser, with only eight thousand individuals on every meter squared.

It is ironic that objects that are designed to kill everything are drawing so much life, says Vedenin. It's evident how the natural world adjusts after a catastrophic event such as the World War II and how, in certain respects, life returns to the most dangerous areas.

Artificial Features as Marine Habitats

Man-made structures such as sunken vessels, wind turbines, oil rigs and undersea pipes can provide alternatives, restoring some of the lost habitat. This research shows that munitions could be comparably advantageous – the explosion of marine organisms on those in the Lübeck Bay is likely 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 shoreline. Countless of workers loaded them in barges; some were dropped in designated sites, others just dumped during transport. This is the initial instance scientists have studied how marine life has reacted.

Worldwide Instances of Ocean Transformation

• In the United States, decommissioned oil and gas structures have turned into reef ecosystems
• Sunken ships from the World War I have become environments for marine life along the Potomac in the state of Maryland
• Military vehicle parts that have become home to reef-building organisms off Asan in Guam

These places become even more crucial for organisms as the seas are increasingly stripped by fishing, seafloor dredging and anchoring. Shipwrecks and explosive disposal locations effectively function as sanctuaries – they are not national parks, but almost any kind of human activity is banned, says Vedenin. Consequently a numerous of species that are usually scarce or decreasing, such as the Baltic cod, are thriving.

Coming Factors

Anywhere warfare has taken place in the recent history, adjacent waters are often strewn with explosives, states Vedenin. Many millions of tons of explosive material rest in our seas.

The positions of these explosives are inadequately recorded, partially because of international boundaries, secret military information and the situation that archives are stored in historical records. They present an explosion and security danger, as well as threat from the persistent leakage of poisonous compounds.

As the German government and additional nations begin removing these relics, researchers hope to preserve the habitats that have formed nearby. In the Bay of Lübeck weapons are already being extracted.

It would be wise to replace these steel remains left from munitions with some more secure, various non-dangerous materials, like perhaps artificial reefs, states Vedenin.

He now wishes that what transpires in Lübeck creates a model for replacing habitats after weapon clearance in different areas – because even the most destructive weaponry can become framework for marine organisms.