World War II Bombs, Torpedoes and Naval Mines: How Marine Life Flourishes on Abandoned Weapons

In the brackish sea off the German coast rests a graveyard of World War II explosives, torpedoes and mines. Dumped from boats at the end of the World War II and neglected, thousands weapons have become matted together over the decades. They create a rusting blanket on the low-depth, silty seafloor of the Bay of Lübeck in the western tip of the Baltic.

Over the years, the wartime weapons was overlooked and neglected. A increasing amount of tourists traveled to the sandy beaches and tranquil sea for water sports, kiteboarding and amusement parks. Underwater, the munitions deteriorated.

We initially expected to see a desert, with no life because it was all poisoned, says the lead researcher.

When the team went looking to see what they were doing to the ecosystem, some of us expected to see a barren area, with no organisms because it was all poisoned, explains the lead researcher.

What they observed amazed them. Vedenin recalls his scientists exclaiming in amazement when the ROV first relayed pictures. It was a great moment, he notes.

Countless of sea creatures had made their homes on the explosives, forming a regenerated ecosystem more populous than the seabed around it.

This underwater metropolis was proof to the tenacity of life. It is actually surprising how much life we discover in places that are supposed to be toxic and dangerous, he explains.

More than 40 starfish had gathered on to one exposed fragment of explosive material. They were residing on iron containers, ignition chambers and carrying containers just a short distance from its volatile core. Fish, crabs, sea anemones and mussels were all found on the old munitions. It's similar to a marine reef in terms of the amount of animal life that was present, says Vedenin.

Surprising Population Density

An mean of more than forty thousand creatures were residing on every square metre of the weapons, scientists wrote in their research on the observation. The surrounding area was much poorer in life, with only 8,000 individuals on every square metre.

It is paradoxical that objects that are intended to eliminate all life are hosting so much marine organisms, states Vedenin. It's evident how nature adjusts after a catastrophic event such as the World War II and how, in certain respects, marine life returns to the most dangerous places.

Man-made Structures as Marine Habitats

Artificial structures such as sunken vessels, wind turbines, drilling platforms and undersea pipes can offer replacements, restoring some of the removed habitat. This investigation reveals that explosives could be similarly beneficial – the proliferation of marine organisms on those in the Lübeck Bay is expected to be found elsewhere.

Between the late 1940s and 1948, 1.6 million tonnes of weapons were discarded off the German shoreline. Countless of individuals transported them in vessels; a portion were placed in specific areas, others just dumped while traveling. This is the initial instance researchers have recorded how ocean organisms has adapted.

Worldwide Examples of Marine Adaptation

• In the US, retired energy installations have turned into coral reefs
• Sunken ships from the World War I have become homes for creatures along the Potomac in Maryland
• Tank tracks that have become home to reef-building organisms off Asan beach in the Pacific island

These areas become even more valuable for marine life as the seas are increasingly denuded by fishing, seafloor dredging and anchoring. Sunken ships and weapons dump sites effectively function as refuges – they are not national parks, but almost any kind of human activity is restricted, says Vedenin. Consequently a lot of species that are usually rare or diminishing, such as the Baltic cod, are prospering.

Coming Issues

Anywhere military conflict has taken place in the last century, nearby oceans are often littered with weapons, says Vedenin. Millions of tonnes of dangerous substances remain in our marine environments.

The locations of these explosives are inadequately documented, in part because of international boundaries, restricted armed forces records and the situation that archives are hidden in historic archives. They pose an detonation and security hazard, as well as risk from the ongoing leakage of toxic chemicals.

As the German government and additional nations begin extracting these remains, researchers hope to safeguard the marine communities that have developed around them. In the Bay of Lübeck munitions are already being cleared.

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

He now aspires that what occurs in the Bay of Lübeck creates a example for replacing structures after weapon clearance in other locations – because including the most destructive armaments can become scaffolding for ocean ecosystems.