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

In the brackish waters off the German coast lies a graveyard of Nazi bombs, torpedoes and mines. Discarded from boats at the end of the second world war and left behind, thousands explosives have become matted together over the decades. They form a decaying blanket on the shallow, muddy ocean floor of the Lübeck Bay in the western tip of the Baltic Sea.

Over the decades, the explosive stockpile was ignored and forgotten about. A growing number of visitors flocked to the coastal areas and tranquil sea for jetskiing, kite surfing and amusement parks. Beneath the surface, the munitions eroded.

We initially expected to see a barren area, with nothing living there because it was all poisoned, says Andrey Vedenin.

When the team went investigating to see what they were doing to the ecosystem, some of us thought they would find a barren area, with nothing living there because it was all contaminated, states Andrey Vedenin.

What they observed amazed them. Vedenin recalls his scientists reacting with shock when the submersible first sent the images back. It was a memorable occasion, he recalls.

Countless of sea creatures had settled on the explosives, creating a revitalized habitat richer than the ocean bottom surrounding it.

This marine city was evidence to the tenacity of marine life. Truly surprising how much life we observe in locations that are supposed to be dangerous and dangerous, he states.

More than 40 sea stars had piled on to one exposed piece of TNT. They were residing on metal shells, detonator compartments and storage boxes just a short distance from its explosive filling. Fish, crustaceans, sea anemones and mussels were all observed on the old munitions. It's similar to a coral reef in terms of the quantity of creatures that was present, notes Vedenin.

Unexpected Population Density

An average of more than 40,000 animals were living on every square metre of the munitions, experts reported in their study on the finding. The adjacent region was much sparser, with only eight thousand organisms on every square metre.

It is ironic that things that are meant to eliminate all life are attracting so much marine organisms, says Vedenin. It's evident how the natural world adapts after a major disaster such as the World War II and how, in certain respects, marine life establishes itself to the most hazardous places.

Man-made Features as Marine Environments

Artificial constructions such as shipwrecks, offshore windfarms, drilling platforms and undersea pipes can provide substitutes, replacing some of the destroyed marine environment. This study shows that explosives could be comparably beneficial – the explosion of marine organisms on those in the Bay of Lübeck is likely to be duplicated in different areas.

Between the late 1940s and 1948, 1.6m tons of weapons were disposed of off the Germany's shoreline. Countless of people loaded them in boats; some were placed in specific locations, others just dumped en route. This is the initial instance researchers have recorded how marine life has reacted.

Global Examples of Ocean Adaptation

• In the United States, retired oil and gas structures have transformed into reef ecosystems
• Shipwrecks from the first world war have become habitats for wildlife along the Potomac in Maryland
• Military vehicle parts that have become habitat to coral off Asan beach in Guam

These areas become even more important for wildlife as the seas are increasingly denuded by fishing, bottom trawling and anchoring. Sunken ships and explosive disposal locations effectively function as refuges – they are not official reserves, but nearly any kind of anthropogenic disturbance is restricted, states Vedenin. Consequently a lot of organisms that are typically rare or declining, such as the cod fish, are thriving.

Future Factors

Anywhere military conflict has happened in the last century, surrounding seas are often littered with munitions, explains Vedenin. Millions of tonnes of volatile compounds lie in our marine environments.

The locations of these explosives are poorly mapped, partially because of national borders, restricted defense data and the situation that documents are hidden in old files. They present an explosion and safety danger, as well as threat from the continuous release of toxic chemicals.

As Germany and additional nations begin clearing these relics, experts plan to protect the habitats that have established nearby. In the Bay of Lübeck weapons are already being removed.

It would be wise to substitute these steel remains left from weapons with certain less dangerous, some non-dangerous objects, like perhaps artificial reefs, suggests Vedenin.

He currently aspires that what transpires in Lübeck creates a precedent for substituting habitats after munitions removal in other locations – because even the most destructive armaments can become foundation for ocean ecosystems.