World War II Bombs, Torpedo Heads and Mines: How Marine Life Flourishes on Abandoned Armaments

In the brackish sea off the Germany's shoreline rests a collection of Nazi bombs, torpedo heads and mines. Dumped from boats at the conclusion of the second world war and neglected, thousands weapons have accumulated over the years. They comprise a corroding layer on the shallow, silty ocean floor of the Lübeck Bay in the western tip of the Baltic.

Over the years, the explosive stockpile was ignored and neglected. A increasing amount of visitors came to the sandy beaches and tranquil sea for water sports, kiteboarding and entertainment venues. Underwater, the munitions deteriorated.

Researchers thought to see a barren area, with no organisms because it was all poisoned, says a scientist.

When the first scientists went searching to see what they were doing to the marine environment, researchers anticipated finding a lifeless zone, with no life because it was all contaminated, says the lead researcher.

What they found astonished them. Vedenin recounts his team members reacting with shock when the submersible first sent the images back. That moment was a memorable occasion, he notes.

Countless of ocean life had established habitats amid the explosives, forming a revitalized marine community denser than the seabed around it.

This underwater metropolis was proof to the persistence of life. It is actually astonishing how much life we discover in locations that are supposed to be toxic and harmful, he states.

In excess of 40 sea stars had clustered on to one visible chunk of TNT. They were residing on steel casings, ignition chambers and storage boxes just a short distance from its dangerous content. Fish, crustaceans, sea anemones and mussels were all observed on the old munitions. It resembles a reef ecosystem in terms of the amount of creatures that was present, states Vedenin.

Remarkable Population Density

An average of more than forty thousand creatures were residing on every meter squared of the explosives, researchers documented in their research on the observation. The nearby seabed was much less diverse, with only 8,000 creatures on every meter squared.

It is surprising that objects that are designed to destroy everything are attracting so much marine organisms, states Vedenin. One can observe how the natural world adapts after a major disaster such as the World War II and how, in certain respects, marine life establishes itself to the most risky areas.

Artificial Structures as Marine Habitats

Man-made constructions such as sunken vessels, offshore windfarms, drilling platforms and pipelines can create replacements, replacing some of the removed marine environment. This investigation demonstrates that weapons could be equally advantageous – the bloom of life on those in the Bay of Lübeck is likely to be found in other locations.

Between the late 1940s and 1948, 1.6m tonnes of arms were disposed of off the German shoreline. Countless of individuals loaded them in barges; some were dropped in specific locations, the remainder just discarded at sea en route. This is the first time scientists have studied how ocean organisms has responded.

Worldwide Examples of Marine Adaptation

• In the US, decommissioned energy installations have become marine habitats
• Submerged vessels from the World War I have become homes for marine life along the Potomac River in the state of Maryland
• Military vehicle parts that have become environment to reef-building organisms off Asan in the Pacific island

These places become even more crucial for marine life as the seas are increasingly depleted by fishing, bottom trawling and anchoring. Shipwrecks and munitions areas essentially act as protected areas – they are not national parks, but virtually any kind of human activity is banned, says Vedenin. Therefore a numerous of marine species that are otherwise rare or diminishing, such as the Baltic cod, are thriving.

Future Factors

Wherever military conflict has taken place in the recent history, surrounding seas are typically strewn with explosives, explains Vedenin. Many millions of tons of explosive material rest in our seas.

The sites of these explosives are insufficiently documented, partially because of national borders, classified defense data and the situation that documents are stored in historic archives. They present an explosion and security danger, as well as danger from the ongoing emission of toxic chemicals.

As Germany and other countries embark on clearing these remains, researchers aim to preserve the ecosystems that have formed around them. In the Lübeck Bay weapons are presently being extracted.

It would be wise to substitute these iron structures originating from munitions with some more secure, some harmless objects, like perhaps man-made habitats, says Vedenin.

He now wishes that what happens in Lübeck creates a precedent for replacing material after weapon clearance in other locations – because even the most destructive armaments can become framework for new life.