World War II Munitions, Torpedo Heads and Naval Mines: The Way Marine Life Prosper on Dumped Armaments

In the brackish sea off the Germany's shoreline sits a collection of Nazi bombs, torpedo heads and naval mines. Thrown off barges at the conclusion of the second world war and left behind, countless weapons have fused into clusters over the years. They form a corroding blanket on the low-depth, muddy ocean floor of the Lübeck Bay in the western part of the Baltic Sea.

Over the years, the explosive stockpile was ignored and neglected. A growing number of visitors traveled to the sandy beaches and calm waters for jetskiing, kiteboarding and amusement parks. Beneath the surface, the weapons decayed.

Some of us anticipated to see a barren area, with no organisms because it was all toxic, says a scientist.

When the first scientists went investigating to see what they were affecting to the marine environment, some of us anticipated finding a desert, with nothing living there because it was all poisoned, states Andrey Vedenin.

What they observed surprised them. Vedenin recounts his colleagues reacting with shock when the submersible first sent the images back. It was a great moment, he notes.

Countless of ocean life had established habitats on the munitions, forming a revitalized habitat richer than the seabed surrounding it.

This underwater metropolis was proof to the tenacity of life. Truly remarkable how much marine organisms we find in locations that are considered dangerous and harmful, he says.

More than 40 starfish had gathered on to one visible piece of explosive material. They were dwelling on metal shells, detonator compartments and transport cases just centimetres from its volatile core. Fish, crabs, sea anemones and bivalves were all discovered on the discarded explosives. It's similar to a marine reef in terms of the abundance of fauna that was inhabiting the area, notes Vedenin.

Surprising Population Density

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

It is paradoxical that things that are meant to destroy all life are hosting so much life, states Vedenin. One can observe how nature adjusts after a catastrophic event such as the second world war and how, in some way, marine life returns to the most dangerous areas.

Man-made Features as Ocean Habitats

Artificial features such as shipwrecks, wind turbines, drilling platforms and pipelines can provide alternatives, replacing some of the destroyed marine environment. This research shows that weapons could be equally beneficial – the explosion of life on those in the Lübeck Bay is expected to be repeated in other locations.

Between 1946 and the post-war period, 1.6 million tons of munitions were disposed of off the German coast. Numerous of people transported them in boats; a portion were dropped in designated areas, others just dumped during transport. This is the initial instance scientists have recorded how ocean organisms has reacted.

Global Examples of Ocean Transformation

• In the US, decommissioned drilling platforms have turned into reef ecosystems
• Submerged vessels from the World War I have become environments for marine life along the Potomac in the state of Maryland
• Tank tracks that have become home to reef-building organisms off Asan beach in Guam

These places become even more crucial for organisms as the marine environments are increasingly depleted by commercial fishing, bottom trawling and anchoring. Shipwrecks and explosive disposal locations essentially act as protected areas – they are not official reserves, but almost any kind of human activity is restricted, says Vedenin. As a result a numerous of organisms that are usually uncommon or decreasing, such as the cod fish, are thriving.

Coming Factors

Wherever warfare has taken place in the last century, adjacent waters are typically littered with weapons, says Vedenin. Millions of tons of explosive material lie in our oceans.

The locations of these munitions are inadequately documented, in part because of national borders, classified armed forces records and the reality that archives are stored in historic archives. They present an detonation and safety danger, as well as risk from the ongoing emission of poisonous compounds.

As the German government and different states embark on clearing these remains, experts plan to safeguard the habitats that have developed around them. In the Bay of Lübeck munitions are already being extracted.

It would be wise to replace these metal carcasses remaining from munitions with certain more secure, various harmless structures, like possibly artificial reefs, suggests Vedenin.

He now aspires that what occurs in Lübeck establishes a precedent for substituting material after explosive extraction elsewhere – because also the most damaging weaponry can become foundation for marine organisms.