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

In the slightly salty waters off the German coast sits a graveyard of Nazi bombs, torpedoes and naval mines. Discarded from barges at the end of the World War II and left behind, thousands munitions have become matted together over the years. They comprise a rusting blanket on the shallow, muddy seafloor of the Lübeck Bay in the western tip of the Baltic.

Over the decades, the explosive stockpile was overlooked and neglected. A growing number of tourists came to the sandy beaches and tranquil sea for water sports, kiteboarding and entertainment venues. Beneath the surface, the weapons eroded.

Researchers expected to see a barren area, with no organisms because it was all contaminated, says the lead researcher.

When the initial researchers went investigating to see what they were affecting to the marine environment, researchers expected to see a desert, with no life because it was all toxic, states a scientist.

What they discovered astonished them. Vedenin recalls his scientists shouting with surprise when the ROV first relayed pictures. This was a memorable occasion, he says.

Countless of sea creatures had settled among the weapons, forming a renewed habitat richer than the ocean bottom nearby.

This ocean community was testament to the persistence of marine life. It is actually remarkable how much marine organisms we discover in areas that are expected to be dangerous and dangerous, he states.

In excess of 40 starfish had clustered on to one exposed chunk of explosive material. They were dwelling on iron containers, detonator compartments and transport cases just a short distance from its volatile core. Fish, crabs, anemones and mussels were all found on the historic weapons. You could compare it with a coral reef in terms of the quantity of fauna that was inhabiting the area, notes Vedenin.

Remarkable Creature Concentration

An average of more than 40,000 animals were dwelling on every meter squared of the explosives, researchers reported in their paper on the finding. The surrounding area was much sparser, with only 8,000 individuals on every meter squared.

It is surprising that things that are designed to eliminate all life are hosting so much marine organisms, explains Vedenin. You can see how the natural world evolves after a devastating occurrence such as the second world war and how, in some way, marine life establishes itself to the most dangerous locations.

Man-made Structures as Marine Habitats

Artificial features such as sunken vessels, offshore windfarms, oil rigs and undersea pipes can create alternatives, replacing some of the destroyed marine environment. This investigation reveals that weapons could be comparably positive – the bloom of life on those in the Bay of Lübeck is likely to be duplicated in different areas.

Between the late 1940s and the post-war period, 1.6m tons of munitions were discarded off the German shoreline. Thousands of people loaded them in barges; a portion were dropped in allocated sites, the remainder just dumped en route. This is the initial instance researchers have recorded how ocean organisms has adapted.

Global Instances of Ocean Transformation

• In the United States, retired drilling platforms have turned into reef ecosystems
• Submerged vessels from the World War I have become environments for marine life along the Potomac in the state of Maryland
• Tank tracks that have become habitat to coral off Asan in the Pacific island

These places become even more valuable for marine life as the oceans are increasingly stripped by fishing, bottom trawling and boat mooring. Sunken ships and explosive disposal locations practically act as refuges – they are not official reserves, but nearly any kind of anthropogenic disturbance is banned, says Vedenin. Therefore a lot of organisms that are typically rare or diminishing, such as the cod fish, are flourishing.

Future Considerations

Anywhere armed conflict has happened in the past 100 years, nearby oceans are usually littered with weapons, says Vedenin. Millions of tonnes of explosive material lie in our marine environments.

The sites of these munitions are insufficiently mapped, in part because of sovereign limits, classified defense data and the fact that documents are stored in old files. They pose an explosion and safety hazard, as well as threat from the ongoing release of hazardous substances.

As Germany and different states embark on extracting these relics, experts plan to protect the marine communities that have formed in their vicinity. In the Lübeck Bay munitions are currently being removed.

It would be wise to replace these steel remains originating from munitions with certain safer, various safe structures, like maybe concrete structures, says Vedenin.

He presently aspires that what occurs in the Bay of Lübeck creates a precedent for substituting habitats after explosive extraction in different areas – because also the most destructive explosives can become framework for ocean ecosystems.