World War II Munitions, Torpedo Heads and Mines: The Way Marine Life Thrives on Abandoned Armaments

In the brackish sea off the Germany's shoreline sits a wasteland of World War II explosives, torpedo heads and mines. Discarded from vessels at the conclusion of the World War II and forgotten about, numerous weapons have accumulated over the years. They create a decaying layer on the shallow, muddy ocean floor of the Lübeck Bay in the western part of the Baltic Sea.

Over the years, the explosive stockpile was ignored and neglected. A growing number of visitors came to the coastal areas and tranquil sea for jetskiing, kiteboarding and amusement parks. Below the waves, the weapons eroded.

Researchers expected to see a desert, with nothing living there because it was all contaminated, explains the lead researcher.

When the team went investigating to see what they were affecting to the marine environment, some of us anticipated finding a barren area, with no life because it was all poisoned, explains Andrey Vedenin.

What they discovered surprised them. Vedenin recounts his colleagues exclaiming in amazement when the submersible first relayed pictures. That moment was a memorable occasion, he recalls.

Thousands of marine animals had settled amid the explosives, developing a renewed ecosystem richer than the ocean bottom nearby.

This ocean community was proof to the persistence of marine life. Indeed remarkable how much life we observe in locations that are expected to be hazardous and harmful, he explains.

More than 40 sea stars had gathered on to one exposed fragment of TNT. They were living on metal shells, detonator compartments and storage boxes just a short distance from its volatile core. Fish, crabs, sea anemones and mussels were all found on the discarded explosives. It resembles a reef ecosystem in terms of the abundance of fauna that was there, notes Vedenin.

Surprising Creature Concentration

An mean of more than 40,000 animals were living on every square metre of the explosives, scientists wrote in their study on the discovery. The adjacent region was much poorer in life, with only eight thousand organisms on every square metre.

It is paradoxical that objects that are designed to eliminate all life are attracting so much life, says Vedenin. One can observe how nature evolves after a devastating occurrence such as the World War II and how, in some way, marine life establishes itself to the most hazardous locations.

Artificial Structures as Ocean Habitats

Artificial constructions such as sunken vessels, offshore windfarms, drilling platforms and undersea pipes can offer replacements, restoring some of the destroyed habitat. This study reveals that explosives could be equally positive – the bloom of life on those in the Lübeck Bay is likely to be repeated elsewhere.

Between the late 1940s and 1948, 1.6m tonnes of munitions were disposed of off the Germany's shoreline. Numerous of workers loaded them in barges; some were dropped in designated locations, others just discarded at sea during transport. This is the first time experts have recorded how ocean organisms has reacted.

Worldwide Instances of Marine Transformation

• In the United States, decommissioned drilling platforms have transformed into marine habitats
• Submerged vessels from the first world war have become homes for creatures along the Potomac River in the state of Maryland
• Tank tracks that have become environment to coral off Asan in Guam

These places become even more crucial for marine life as the seas are increasingly denuded by commercial fishing, seafloor dredging and boat mooring. Sunken ships and weapons dump sites practically serve as sanctuaries – they are not national parks, but nearly any kind of anthropogenic disturbance is prohibited, says Vedenin. As a result a numerous of organisms that are otherwise rare or decreasing, such as the Baltic cod, are thriving.

Coming Issues

Wherever armed conflict has taken place in the last century, nearby oceans are often containing weapons, explains Vedenin. Many millions of tons of dangerous substances rest in our seas.

The positions of these munitions are poorly recorded, in part because of international boundaries, secret defense data and the reality that records are buried in historical records. They create an explosion and safety hazard, as well as threat from the persistent leakage of poisonous compounds.

As Germany and other countries begin extracting these remains, scientists hope to protect the habitats that have established nearby. In the Bay of Lübeck explosives are presently being removed.

We should substitute these metal carcasses originating from munitions with certain less dangerous, various safe structures, like perhaps concrete structures, says Vedenin.

He presently aspires that what transpires in Lübeck sets a precedent for replacing material after explosive extraction in different areas – because also the most damaging armaments can become scaffolding for ocean ecosystems.