World War II Explosives, Torpedoes and Mines: The Way Marine Life Flourishes on Discarded Weapons

In the slightly salty waters off the German shoreline rests a wasteland of World War II explosives, torpedoes and mines. Thrown off barges at the conclusion of the second world war and left behind, numerous explosives have accumulated over the decades. They comprise a decaying layer on the shallow, muddy seafloor of the Bay of Lübeck in the western tip of the Baltic Sea.

Over the decades, the Nazi arsenal was ignored and forgotten about. A increasing amount of tourists flocked to the coastal areas and calm waters for water sports, kite surfing and entertainment venues. Below the waves, the munitions eroded.

We initially expected to see a barren area, with no organisms because it was all contaminated, states Andrey Vedenin.

When the first scientists went investigating to see what they were doing to the marine environment, researchers anticipated finding a desert, with no life because it was all toxic, explains a scientist.

What they observed surprised them. Vedenin recounts his scientists reacting with shock when the ROV first transmitted footage. That moment was a memorable occasion, he says.

Numerous of marine animals had made their homes among the weapons, forming a revitalized marine community more populous than the sea floor around it.

This ocean community was proof to the persistence of marine life. It is actually remarkable how much life we observe in places that are supposed to be toxic and risky, he explains.

In excess of 40 starfish had piled on to one exposed fragment of TNT. They were living on steel casings, ignition chambers and storage boxes just centimetres from its volatile core. Marine fish, crabs, sea anemones and bivalves were all observed on the discarded explosives. You could compare it with a coral reef in terms of the amount of fauna that was inhabiting the area, says Vedenin.

Remarkable Creature Concentration

An average of more than 40,000 animals were residing on every meter squared of the explosives, scientists documented in their research on the finding. The surrounding area was much sparser, with only 8,000 individuals on every square metre.

It is surprising that items that are intended to kill everything are hosting so much life, states Vedenin. It's evident how the natural world evolves after a major disaster such as the World War II and how, in some way, marine life returns to the most dangerous places.

Artificial Structures as Marine Habitats

Artificial structures such as sunken vessels, offshore windfarms, oil rigs and pipelines can provide replacements, restoring some of the destroyed habitat. This research reveals that explosives could be equally positive – the proliferation of life on those in the Bay of Lübeck is likely to be found in different areas.

Between the late 1940s and 1948, 1.6m tonnes of arms were discarded off the German shoreline. Thousands of people loaded them in barges; some were dropped in allocated locations, others just thrown overboard en route. This is the initial instance researchers have documented how ocean organisms has responded.

Worldwide Examples of Marine Transformation

• In the US, retired energy installations have transformed into reef ecosystems
• Shipwrecks from the World War I have become habitats for marine life along the Potomac in the state of Maryland
• Tank tracks that have become environment to reef-building organisms off Asan beach in the Pacific island

These places become even more crucial for organisms as the seas are increasingly stripped by commercial fishing, seafloor dredging and boat mooring. Shipwrecks and munitions areas essentially serve as protected areas – they are not national parks, but nearly any kind of human activity is banned, states Vedenin. Therefore a numerous of species that are typically uncommon or diminishing, such as the cod fish, are thriving.

Coming Considerations

Anywhere military conflict has happened in the recent history, surrounding seas are usually containing explosives, explains Vedenin. Millions of tonnes of dangerous substances lie in our seas.

The positions of these explosives are poorly recorded, in part because of sovereign limits, restricted defense data and the reality that documents are hidden in old files. They present an explosion and security risk, as well as danger from the persistent emission of poisonous compounds.

As the German government and different states embark on clearing these artifacts, experts hope to preserve the habitats that have developed in their vicinity. In the Lübeck Bay explosives are currently being cleared.

It would be wise to replace these iron structures left from munitions with certain more secure, various safe structures, like perhaps concrete structures, suggests Vedenin.

He now aspires that what happens in the Bay of Lübeck sets a model for substituting habitats after weapon clearance elsewhere – because even the most destructive armaments can become framework for marine organisms.