World War II Explosives, Torpedo Heads and Naval Mines: The Way Ocean Creatures Thrives on Abandoned Armaments

In the slightly salty waters off the German coast lies a collection of Nazi bombs, torpedoes and mines. Thrown off boats at the end of the second world war and left behind, thousands weapons have accumulated over the decades. They comprise a rusting carpet on the shallow, silty seafloor of the Bay of Lübeck in the western part of the Baltic Sea.

Over the years, the explosive stockpile was ignored and neglected. A increasing amount of visitors flocked to the coastal areas and calm waters for jetskiing, kiteboarding and amusement parks. Beneath the surface, the weapons decayed.

Researchers thought to see a desert, with nothing living there because it was all poisoned, explains the lead researcher.

When the initial researchers went looking to see what they were affecting to the ecosystem, researchers anticipated finding a barren area, with no organisms because it was all toxic, explains Andrey Vedenin.

What they found amazed them. Vedenin recalls his scientists reacting with shock when the underwater vehicle first transmitted footage. It was a great moment, he notes.

Thousands of marine animals had made their homes amid the weapons, developing a revitalized ecosystem more populous than the ocean bottom surrounding it.

This marine city was evidence to the tenacity of marine life. Truly remarkable how much life we find in places that are supposed to be hazardous and risky, he states.

Over 40 sea stars had gathered on to one accessible fragment of explosive material. They were living on iron containers, detonator compartments and transport cases just a short distance from its dangerous content. Fish, crabs, sea anemones and mussels were all discovered on the old munitions. It's similar to a reef ecosystem in terms of the amount of creatures that was inhabiting the area, notes Vedenin.

Remarkable Population Density

An mean of more than 40,000 creatures were residing on every meter squared of the munitions, researchers wrote in their research on the observation. The adjacent region was much less diverse, with only eight thousand creatures on every square metre.

It is surprising that objects that are intended to eliminate all life are hosting so much life, says Vedenin. You can see how the natural world adjusts after a catastrophic event such as the World War II and how, in some way, marine life establishes itself to the most hazardous places.

Artificial Structures as Ocean Habitats

Artificial features such as shipwrecks, offshore windfarms, drilling platforms and undersea pipes can offer substitutes, restoring some of the removed marine environment. This research demonstrates that munitions could be comparably positive – the bloom of marine organisms on those in the Bay of Lübeck is probable to be repeated elsewhere.

Between 1946 and the post-war period, 1.6 million tons of weapons were disposed of off the Germany's coast. Thousands of workers loaded them in vessels; a portion were dropped in specific locations, others just discarded at sea during transport. This is the first time scientists have studied how marine life has responded.

Global Examples of Ocean Adaptation

• In the United States, decommissioned energy installations have turned into marine habitats
• Submerged vessels from the World War I have become habitats for wildlife along the Potomac in Maryland
• Military vehicle parts that have become home to reef-building organisms off Asan in Guam

These locations become even more valuable for organisms as the oceans are increasingly depleted by commercial fishing, seafloor dredging and anchoring. Sunken ships and munitions areas practically act as refuges – they are not official reserves, but virtually any kind of human activity is prohibited, states Vedenin. Consequently a many of marine species that are otherwise rare or diminishing, such as the cod fish, are prospering.

Future Issues

Anywhere military conflict has happened in the past 100 years, nearby oceans are often littered with explosives, states Vedenin. Millions of tons of volatile compounds lie in our seas.

The positions of these weapons are insufficiently mapped, partly because of national borders, classified defense data and the reality that archives are buried in old files. They create an detonation and safety risk, as well as threat from the ongoing release of hazardous substances.

As the German government and other countries embark on clearing these relics, experts aim to preserve the ecosystems that have developed nearby. In the Bay of Lübeck explosives are already being removed.

It would be wise to substitute these metal carcasses originating from weapons with some less dangerous, some harmless objects, like maybe artificial reefs, suggests Vedenin.

He now aspires that what transpires in Lübeck creates a precedent for substituting material after munitions removal elsewhere – because including the most damaging armaments can become foundation for new life.