World War II Bombs, Torpedo Heads and Mines: How Marine Life Prosper on Discarded Armaments

In the brackish waters off the German coast sits a wasteland of World War II explosives, torpedoes and mines. Thrown off barges at the end of the second world war and left behind, thousands munitions have accumulated over the decades. They create a decaying blanket on the low-depth, silty ocean floor of the Bay of Lübeck in the western part of the Baltic.

Over the decades, the explosive stockpile was overlooked and neglected. A growing number of visitors came to the coastal areas and tranquil sea for jetskiing, kite surfing and amusement parks. Beneath the surface, the munitions deteriorated.

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

When the initial researchers went looking to see what they were doing to the ecosystem, some of us thought they would find a lifeless zone, with nothing living there because it was all poisoned, explains the lead researcher.

What they found surprised them. Vedenin recounts his colleagues exclaiming in amazement when the ROV first transmitted footage. It was a memorable occasion, he notes.

Thousands of ocean life had settled on the explosives, forming a revitalized marine community more populous than the ocean bottom nearby.

This ocean community was testament to the resilience of life. Indeed astonishing how much marine organisms we find in places that are considered toxic and dangerous, he says.

Over 40 starfish had clustered on to one accessible chunk of TNT. They were dwelling on iron containers, ignition chambers and storage boxes just centimetres from its dangerous content. Fish, crustaceans, anemones and mussels were all found on the historic weapons. It's similar to a marine reef in terms of the quantity of fauna that was present, notes Vedenin.

Unexpected Creature Concentration

An mean of more than forty thousand organisms were dwelling on every meter squared of the weapons, experts wrote in their study on the discovery. The surrounding area was much sparser, with only eight thousand organisms on every square metre.

It is paradoxical that things that are designed to destroy everything are drawing so much marine organisms, explains Vedenin. One can observe how nature evolves after a devastating occurrence such as the second world war and how, in certain respects, life returns to the most risky locations.

Man-made Features as Marine Habitats

Man-made constructions such as sunken vessels, wind turbines, oil rigs and undersea pipes can offer alternatives, restoring some of the lost marine environment. This investigation shows that munitions could be similarly advantageous – the explosion of life on those in the Bay of Lübeck is probable to be duplicated in other locations.

Between the late 1940s and 1948, 1.6 million tons of arms were discarded off the German shoreline. Countless of workers transported them in boats; some were dropped in specific sites, others just dumped en route. This is the initial instance experts have recorded how ocean organisms has responded.

Global Instances of Ocean Transformation

• In the US, decommissioned energy installations have become marine habitats
• Submerged vessels from the World War I have become homes for creatures along the Potomac in Maryland
• Tank tracks that have become environment to reef-building organisms off Asan in the Pacific island

These locations become even more crucial for wildlife as the oceans are increasingly depleted by commercial fishing, bottom trawling and anchoring. Sunken ships and weapons dump sites effectively serve as refuges – they are not national parks, but almost any kind of anthropogenic disturbance is restricted, says Vedenin. Therefore a numerous of marine species that are typically rare or diminishing, such as the Baltic cod, are prospering.

Future Factors

Anywhere military conflict has taken place in the recent history, nearby oceans are usually containing munitions, says Vedenin. Many millions of tonnes of volatile compounds rest in our seas.

The positions of these munitions are poorly documented, in part because of international boundaries, restricted defense data and the situation that records are buried in old files. They pose an detonation and safety danger, as well as risk from the ongoing emission of toxic chemicals.

As the German government and other countries embark on clearing these artifacts, researchers aim to preserve the marine communities that have formed in their vicinity. In the Bay of Lübeck munitions are currently being extracted.

Researchers recommend replace these steel remains left from munitions with certain less dangerous, some safe materials, like possibly artificial reefs, suggests Vedenin.

He presently hopes that what happens in Lübeck creates a example for replacing habitats after explosive extraction in other locations – because including the most damaging armaments can become scaffolding for marine organisms.