World War II Bombs, Torpedo Heads and Mines: How Ocean Creatures Prosper on Discarded Armaments

In the slightly salty sea off the German coast lies a wasteland of Nazi bombs, torpedo heads and mines. Thrown off barges at the conclusion of the second world war and neglected, countless munitions have accumulated over the years. They comprise a corroding layer on the shallow, silty ocean floor of the Bay of Lübeck in the western part of the Baltic.

Over the decades, the explosive stockpile was overlooked and forgotten about. A growing number of visitors came to the sandy beaches and tranquil sea for water sports, kiteboarding and amusement parks. Beneath the surface, the munitions eroded.

Some of us thought to see a lifeless zone, with nothing living there because it was all contaminated, states a scientist.

When the team went searching to see what they were affecting to the marine environment, some of us expected to see a barren area, with nothing living there because it was all toxic, says the lead researcher.

What they discovered amazed them. Vedenin remembers his colleagues shouting with surprise when the underwater vehicle first transmitted footage. That moment was a memorable occasion, he recalls.

Thousands of ocean life had established habitats amid the weapons, forming a revitalized habitat richer than the ocean bottom surrounding it.

This underwater metropolis was testament to the resilience of marine life. It is actually surprising how much marine organisms we discover in areas that are considered toxic and harmful, he states.

More than 40 sea stars had clustered on to one accessible fragment of explosive material. They were dwelling on metal shells, fuse pockets and storage boxes just a short distance from its dangerous content. Fish, crabs, anemones and mussels were all discovered on the old munitions. It's similar to a marine reef in terms of the abundance of fauna that was present, states Vedenin.

Surprising Population Density

An mean of more than forty thousand animals were dwelling on every square metre of the explosives, researchers documented in their paper on the discovery. The nearby seabed was much poorer in life, with only 8,000 organisms on every meter squared.

It is ironic that things that are meant to kill all life are hosting so much life, explains Vedenin. One can observe how the natural world adjusts after a catastrophic event such as the World War II and how, in certain respects, marine life establishes itself to the most risky places.

Artificial Structures as Ocean Environments

Artificial constructions such as sunken vessels, wind turbines, drilling platforms and pipelines can create substitutes, restoring some of the destroyed marine environment. This investigation demonstrates that munitions could be similarly advantageous – the bloom of marine organisms on those in the Bay of Lübeck is probable to be found elsewhere.

Between the late 1940s and the post-war period, 1.6m tons of munitions were discarded off the German coast. Numerous of individuals placed them in barges; a portion were placed in allocated areas, others just dumped during transport. This is the first time researchers have recorded how ocean organisms has responded.

Global Instances of Ocean Transformation

• In the United States, decommissioned oil and gas structures have transformed into reef ecosystems
• Submerged vessels from the World War I have become environments for marine life along the Potomac in Maryland
• Military vehicle parts that have become environment to coral off Asan beach in Guam

These places become even more important for wildlife as the oceans are increasingly denuded by commercial fishing, seafloor dredging and anchoring. Sunken ships and explosive disposal locations effectively serve as sanctuaries – they are not national parks, but almost any kind of anthropogenic disturbance is banned, says Vedenin. Therefore a many of marine species that are typically rare or declining, such as the cod fish, are flourishing.

Coming Considerations

Anywhere military conflict has taken place in the recent history, nearby oceans are usually containing weapons, says Vedenin. Millions of tons of volatile compounds rest in our oceans.

The positions of these explosives are insufficiently mapped, partially because of sovereign limits, restricted armed forces records and the fact that records are hidden in historic archives. They pose an explosion and safety hazard, as well as threat from the ongoing leakage of poisonous compounds.

As the German government and other countries embark on removing these relics, researchers hope to preserve the marine communities that have established around them. In the Bay of Lübeck explosives are already being extracted.

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

He presently hopes that what occurs in the Bay of Lübeck establishes a precedent for replacing structures after explosive extraction in different areas – because also the most harmful weaponry can become scaffolding for new life.