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

In the slightly salty sea off the German shoreline sits a wasteland of World War II explosives, torpedo heads and naval mines. Discarded from vessels at the end of the World War II and left behind, thousands munitions have fused into clusters over the years. They comprise a corroding blanket on the shallow, muddy ocean floor of the Lübeck Bay in the western tip of the Baltic Sea.

Over the decades, the Nazi arsenal was overlooked and neglected. A increasing amount of tourists traveled to the sandy beaches and tranquil sea for water sports, kite surfing and entertainment venues. Underwater, the weapons eroded.

Some of us expected to see a lifeless zone, with no organisms because it was all toxic, states the lead researcher.

When the first scientists went searching to see what they were doing to the ecosystem, researchers anticipated finding a barren area, with no life because it was all toxic, says a scientist.

What they discovered astonished them. Vedenin recounts his colleagues exclaiming in amazement when the ROV first sent the images back. It was a remarkable experience, he says.

Countless of ocean life had made their homes on the munitions, forming a revitalized habitat more populous than the seabed around it.

This marine city was testament to the tenacity of marine life. Indeed remarkable how much life we find in places that are expected to be hazardous and harmful, he says.

In excess of 40 sea stars had gathered on to one exposed chunk of TNT. They were residing on iron containers, fuse pockets and storage boxes just a short distance from its dangerous content. Fish, crustaceans, sea anemones and bivalves were all discovered on the old munitions. It resembles a marine reef in terms of the abundance of fauna that was present, states Vedenin.

Remarkable Creature Concentration

An average of more than 40,000 organisms were living on every square metre of the munitions, experts reported in their paper on the observation. The surrounding area was much poorer in life, with only 8,000 creatures on every meter squared.

It is ironic that objects that are designed to destroy everything are attracting so much marine organisms, explains Vedenin. One can observe how nature adjusts after a devastating occurrence such as the World War II and how, in some way, life finds its way to the most dangerous places.

Artificial Structures as Marine Environments

Artificial structures such as shipwrecks, offshore windfarms, drilling platforms and undersea pipes can provide alternatives, restoring some of the removed marine environment. This research demonstrates that explosives could be comparably beneficial – the bloom of life on those in the Lübeck Bay is probable to be repeated elsewhere.

Between the late 1940s and 1948, 1.6 million tons of arms were discarded off the German shoreline. Thousands of workers transported them in boats; some were dropped in allocated locations, others just discarded at sea en route. This is the initial instance researchers have recorded how ocean organisms has reacted.

Worldwide Examples of Marine Adaptation

• In the US, retired energy installations have turned into coral reefs
• Submerged vessels from the World War I have become environments for marine life along the Potomac River in the state of Maryland
• Military vehicle parts that have become habitat to coral off Asan beach in the Pacific island

These areas become even more crucial for wildlife as the marine environments are increasingly denuded by commercial fishing, seafloor dredging and boat mooring. Shipwrecks and weapons dump sites practically function as sanctuaries – they are not national parks, but virtually any kind of anthropogenic disturbance is banned, states Vedenin. Consequently a many of organisms that are typically rare or declining, such as the Baltic cod, are flourishing.

Coming Considerations

Anywhere warfare has happened in the last century, nearby oceans are often containing munitions, says Vedenin. Millions of tonnes of dangerous substances rest in our oceans.

The locations of these explosives are poorly documented, in part because of sovereign limits, classified military information and the fact that records are buried in historical records. They pose an detonation and safety risk, as well as risk from the persistent release of poisonous compounds.

As the German government and other countries start extracting these relics, researchers aim to preserve the marine communities that have developed nearby. In the Bay of Lübeck munitions are presently being cleared.

It would be wise to substitute these steel remains originating from weapons with certain safer, some non-dangerous structures, like possibly man-made habitats, says Vedenin.

He now aspires that what transpires in the Bay of Lübeck sets a precedent for substituting structures after munitions removal in other locations – because even the most harmful explosives can become framework for ocean ecosystems.