World War II Munitions, Torpedoes and Naval Mines: The Way Ocean Creatures Prosper on Abandoned Armaments

In the brackish waters off the German shoreline rests a collection of Nazi bombs, torpedo heads and mines. Dumped from boats at the conclusion of the second world war and neglected, numerous munitions have fused into clusters over the decades. They create a rusting layer on the shallow, muddy seafloor of the Lübeck Bay in the western part of the Baltic Sea.

Over the years, the wartime weapons was overlooked and forgotten about. A growing number of tourists traveled to the coastal areas and tranquil sea for water sports, kiteboarding and amusement parks. Beneath the surface, the munitions decayed.

Researchers thought to see a barren area, with no life because it was all contaminated, says a scientist.

When the first scientists went investigating to see what they were doing to the ecosystem, researchers thought they would find a lifeless zone, with no life because it was all contaminated, says the lead researcher.

What they observed astonished them. Vedenin recounts his team members exclaiming in amazement when the ROV first relayed pictures. It was a remarkable experience, he notes.

Thousands of marine animals had settled on the munitions, creating a revitalized habitat denser than the ocean bottom surrounding it.

This marine city was evidence to the persistence of marine life. Indeed surprising how much life we discover in areas that are considered toxic and harmful, he states.

More than 40 sea stars had gathered on to one accessible chunk of TNT. They were residing on iron containers, ignition chambers and carrying containers just centimetres from its volatile core. Fish, crabs, sea anemones and bivalves were all observed on the discarded explosives. It's similar to a coral reef in terms of the abundance of fauna that was present, notes Vedenin.

Remarkable Creature Concentration

An average of more than 40,000 creatures were dwelling on every meter squared of the weapons, experts documented in their study on the observation. The adjacent region was much poorer in life, 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 life, explains Vedenin. It's evident how the natural world adjusts after a major disaster such as the second world war and how, in certain respects, life establishes itself to the most hazardous locations.

Artificial Features as Marine Environments

Artificial features such as sunken vessels, wind turbines, drilling platforms and undersea pipes can provide alternatives, replacing some of the removed habitat. This study reveals that explosives could be comparably 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, 1.6m tons of arms were dumped off the Germany's shoreline. Countless of people placed them in boats; a portion were placed in specific locations, others just thrown overboard during transport. This is the initial instance experts have documented how ocean organisms has adapted.

Global Instances of Ocean Transformation

• In the US, retired energy installations have transformed into marine habitats
• Sunken ships from the first world war have become environments for wildlife along the Potomac River in Maryland
• Military vehicle parts that have become habitat to coral off Asan beach in the Pacific island

These locations become even more valuable for marine life as the seas are increasingly depleted by fishing, bottom trawling and anchoring. Sunken ships and munitions areas essentially act as refuges – they are not national parks, but nearly any kind of human activity is restricted, states Vedenin. Therefore a lot of species that are typically uncommon or diminishing, such as the cod fish, are flourishing.

Future Issues

Wherever military conflict has occurred in the past 100 years, adjacent waters are typically littered with munitions, states Vedenin. Millions of tonnes of volatile compounds remain in our seas.

The sites of these munitions are poorly documented, in part because of international boundaries, restricted defense data and the fact that documents are hidden in historic archives. They create an explosion and security danger, as well as danger from the ongoing leakage of poisonous compounds.

As the German government and other countries embark on clearing these remains, researchers hope to protect the ecosystems that have established around them. In the Lübeck Bay munitions are already being extracted.

Researchers recommend replace these metal carcasses remaining from weapons with certain less dangerous, various safe materials, like possibly man-made habitats, says Vedenin.

He currently wishes that what occurs in the Bay of Lübeck sets a precedent for substituting structures after munitions removal elsewhere – because also the most destructive explosives can become framework for marine organisms.