World War II Explosives, Torpedo Heads and Mines: The Way Marine Life Thrives on Discarded Weapons

In the slightly salty waters off the Germany's shoreline rests a wasteland of World War II explosives, torpedoes and mines. Dumped from boats at the conclusion of the World War II and forgotten about, numerous explosives have fused into clusters over the decades. They form a decaying carpet on the shallow, silty seafloor of the Bay of Lübeck in the western tip of the Baltic.

Over the decades, the wartime weapons was overlooked and forgotten about. A growing number of tourists came to the sandy beaches and tranquil sea for water sports, kiteboarding and entertainment venues. Below the waves, the weapons deteriorated.

Some of us thought to see a lifeless zone, with no organisms because it was all toxic, states the lead researcher.

When the team went looking to see what they were doing to the marine environment, some of us anticipated finding a barren area, with no organisms because it was all contaminated, says the lead researcher.

What they discovered amazed them. Vedenin recounts his colleagues reacting with shock when the underwater vehicle first sent the images back. This was a memorable occasion, he notes.

Numerous of sea creatures had settled on the munitions, forming a revitalized ecosystem more populous than the seabed surrounding it.

This underwater metropolis was proof to the tenacity of life. Indeed remarkable how much marine organisms we observe in areas that are considered hazardous and dangerous, he explains.

Over 40 starfish had gathered on to one visible chunk of TNT. They were living on steel casings, detonator compartments and storage boxes just centimetres from its volatile core. Fish, crustaceans, anemones and mussels were all observed on the old munitions. You could compare it with a coral reef in terms of the abundance of fauna that was inhabiting the area, notes Vedenin.

Surprising Population Density

An mean of more than 40,000 animals were dwelling on every square metre of the munitions, researchers documented in their paper on the finding. The adjacent region was much less diverse, with only 8,000 individuals on every square metre.

It is paradoxical that things that are intended to kill all life are attracting so much marine organisms, says Vedenin. It's evident how the natural world evolves after a major disaster such as the second world war and how, in some way, marine life establishes itself to the most hazardous areas.

Artificial Features as Ocean Environments

Artificial features such as sunken vessels, offshore windfarms, oil rigs and undersea pipes can provide replacements, replacing some of the removed marine environment. This investigation shows that munitions could be comparably positive – the bloom of marine organisms on those in the Lübeck Bay is likely to be found in different areas.

Between the late 1940s and 1948, 1.6m tonnes of arms were dumped off the Germany's shoreline. Numerous of workers loaded them in boats; some were placed in designated sites, others just discarded at sea en route. This is the first time experts have recorded how marine life has adapted.

Global Instances of Marine Adaptation

• In the United States, decommissioned drilling platforms have transformed into coral reefs
• Sunken ships from the World War I have become environments for marine life along the Potomac River in Maryland
• Tank tracks that have become environment to reef-building organisms off Asan beach in the Pacific island

These areas become even more valuable for marine life as the marine environments are increasingly stripped by commercial fishing, seafloor dredging and boat mooring. Sunken ships and weapons dump sites effectively act as sanctuaries – they are not national parks, but almost any kind of anthropogenic disturbance is prohibited, explains Vedenin. Therefore a lot of organisms that are otherwise scarce or diminishing, such as the Baltic cod, are prospering.

Coming Factors

Anywhere armed conflict has happened in the recent history, adjacent waters are often littered with munitions, says Vedenin. Millions of tons of volatile compounds lie in our oceans.

The sites of these weapons are insufficiently recorded, partly because of international boundaries, restricted military information and the fact that archives are stored in historic archives. They present an explosion and security hazard, as well as risk from the continuous emission of hazardous substances.

As Germany and different states start clearing these artifacts, experts aim to protect the habitats that have formed nearby. In the Bay of Lübeck explosives are currently being removed.

We should replace these iron structures remaining from weapons with some safer, various non-dangerous materials, like maybe concrete structures, suggests Vedenin.

He currently aspires that what happens in the Bay of Lübeck establishes a model for substituting material after weapon clearance in different areas – because including the most harmful explosives can become framework for ocean ecosystems.