World War II Bombs, Torpedo Heads and Mines: The Way Ocean Creatures Flourishes on Dumped Weapons

In the brackish waters off the German shoreline rests a graveyard of World War II explosives, torpedo heads and naval mines. Discarded from vessels at the conclusion of the second world war and neglected, countless munitions have fused into clusters over the decades. They form a decaying layer on the shallow, muddy ocean floor of the Bay of Lübeck in the western tip of the Baltic Sea.

Over the decades, the wartime weapons was overlooked and neglected. A growing number of tourists came to the coastal areas and tranquil sea for jetskiing, kiteboarding and amusement parks. Below the waves, the weapons eroded.

We initially thought to see a barren area, with no organisms because it was all poisoned, explains a scientist.

When the initial researchers went searching to see what they were doing to the ecosystem, researchers anticipated finding a lifeless zone, with nothing living there because it was all contaminated, states a scientist.

What they discovered astonished them. Vedenin recounts his team members shouting with surprise when the submersible first transmitted footage. That moment was a great moment, he says.

Numerous of sea creatures had made their homes amid the explosives, developing a revitalized habitat richer than the ocean bottom surrounding it.

This ocean community was evidence to the tenacity of life. It is actually astonishing how much life we find in places that are expected to be dangerous and risky, he says.

More than 40 starfish had piled on to one exposed fragment of TNT. They were residing on steel casings, fuse pockets and transport cases just centimetres from its dangerous content. Marine fish, crabs, anemones and bivalves were all discovered on the discarded explosives. You could compare it with a marine reef in terms of the abundance of animal life that was inhabiting the area, notes Vedenin.

Surprising Creature Concentration

An mean of more than 40,000 creatures were living on every square metre of the weapons, experts documented in their research on the discovery. The nearby seabed was much sparser, with only 8,000 individuals on every meter squared.

It is surprising that things that are intended to eliminate all life are hosting so much life, says Vedenin. It's evident how nature evolves 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 Marine Environments

Man-made constructions such as shipwrecks, wind turbines, drilling platforms and pipelines can offer alternatives, restoring some of the removed habitat. This study demonstrates that munitions could be similarly advantageous – the proliferation of marine organisms on those in the Lübeck Bay is expected to be duplicated elsewhere.

Between the late 1940s and 1948, 1.6m tonnes of arms were disposed of off the German shoreline. Numerous of workers loaded them in barges; a portion were deposited in designated sites, the remainder just discarded at sea en route. This is the initial instance scientists have studied how marine life has responded.

Global Examples of Marine Transformation

• In the United States, decommissioned oil and gas structures have turned into marine habitats
• Shipwrecks from the first world war have become habitats for marine life along the Potomac in Maryland
• Military vehicle parts that have become environment to reef-building organisms off Asan in the Pacific island

These locations become even more important for wildlife as the marine environments are increasingly denuded by commercial fishing, seafloor dredging and anchoring. Shipwrecks and weapons dump sites effectively function as refuges – they are not official reserves, but almost any kind of anthropogenic disturbance is restricted, explains Vedenin. As a result a lot of species that are typically uncommon or decreasing, such as the cod fish, are flourishing.

Future Issues

Anywhere warfare has taken place in the past 100 years, adjacent waters are usually strewn with munitions, explains Vedenin. Millions of tonnes of dangerous substances lie in our seas.

The sites of these explosives are poorly documented, partially because of international boundaries, restricted armed forces records and the reality that archives are hidden in historical records. They pose an detonation and safety hazard, as well as danger from the ongoing leakage of hazardous substances.

As Germany and different states begin removing these remains, scientists aim to preserve the habitats that have established nearby. In the Bay of Lübeck munitions are presently being cleared.

Researchers recommend replace these steel remains originating from munitions with certain less dangerous, some harmless structures, like perhaps concrete structures, says Vedenin.

He currently hopes that what happens in Lübeck creates a precedent for replacing material after explosive extraction elsewhere – because also the most harmful weaponry can become framework for ocean ecosystems.