World War II Bombs, Torpedoes and Naval Mines: The Way Ocean Creatures Thrives on Abandoned Armaments

In the brackish sea off the Germany's shoreline rests a graveyard of Nazi bombs, torpedoes and mines. Dumped from vessels at the end of the World War II and left behind, countless munitions have become matted together over the years. They comprise a corroding layer on the shallow, muddy ocean floor of the Lübeck Bay in the western part of the Baltic.

Over the decades, the Nazi arsenal was overlooked and neglected. A increasing amount of tourists flocked to the sandy beaches and tranquil sea for jetskiing, kiteboarding and entertainment venues. Beneath the surface, the weapons eroded.

Researchers thought to see a lifeless zone, with no life because it was all toxic, says Andrey Vedenin.

When the initial researchers went investigating to see what they were affecting to the ecosystem, the team thought they would find a barren area, with no organisms because it was all contaminated, says the lead researcher.

What they observed amazed them. Vedenin recalls his colleagues exclaiming in amazement when the underwater vehicle first relayed pictures. That moment was a great moment, he says.

Numerous of sea creatures had established habitats among the weapons, forming a regenerated habitat denser than the seabed nearby.

This underwater metropolis was evidence to the resilience of marine life. Indeed surprising how much life we find in areas that are supposed to be dangerous and risky, he states.

Over 40 sea stars had piled on to one exposed piece of TNT. They were residing on metal shells, detonator compartments and storage boxes just centimetres from its explosive filling. Marine fish, crustaceans, sea anemones and mussels were all discovered on the historic weapons. It's similar to a coral reef in terms of the quantity of fauna that was present, notes Vedenin.

Unexpected Population Density

An average of more than forty thousand organisms were living on every meter squared of the munitions, scientists reported in their paper on the discovery. The nearby seabed was much poorer in life, with only 8,000 creatures on every meter squared.

It is ironic that objects that are designed to destroy all life are hosting so much life, explains Vedenin. One can observe how the natural world evolves after a major disaster such as the World War II and how, in some way, marine life finds its way to the most risky locations.

Man-made Structures as Ocean Habitats

Man-made constructions such as shipwrecks, wind turbines, drilling platforms and pipelines can provide alternatives, compensating for some of the destroyed marine environment. This research reveals that weapons could be equally positive – the proliferation of marine organisms on those in the Bay of Lübeck is expected to be found in different areas.

Between the late 1940s and 1948, 1.6 million tonnes of weapons were discarded off the German coast. Countless of workers transported them in boats; a portion were deposited in specific sites, others just discarded at sea en route. This is the first time scientists have studied how ocean organisms has reacted.

Worldwide Instances of Ocean Transformation

• In the US, retired drilling platforms have become marine habitats
• Sunken ships from the first world war have become environments for wildlife along the Potomac in the state of Maryland
• Military vehicle parts that have become home to reef-building organisms off Asan beach in Guam

These areas become even more crucial for organisms as the oceans are increasingly stripped by fishing, bottom trawling and boat mooring. Shipwrecks and explosive disposal locations essentially serve as protected areas – they are not official reserves, but nearly any kind of anthropogenic disturbance is restricted, states Vedenin. As a result a numerous of species that are usually uncommon or diminishing, such as the cod fish, are prospering.

Coming Considerations

Anywhere armed conflict has taken place in the past 100 years, nearby oceans are often strewn with munitions, explains Vedenin. Millions of tons of dangerous substances lie in our seas.

The positions of these explosives are insufficiently mapped, partly because of national borders, classified defense data and the reality that archives are stored in old files. They present an detonation and safety danger, as well as risk from the persistent emission of hazardous substances.

As Germany and other countries start removing these remains, scientists plan to preserve the marine communities that have established around them. In the Lübeck Bay munitions are currently being extracted.

It would be wise to replace these steel remains originating from munitions with some safer, various harmless objects, like perhaps artificial reefs, says Vedenin.

He currently wishes that what transpires in the Bay of Lübeck establishes a precedent for replacing structures after weapon clearance elsewhere – because even the most harmful armaments can become framework for ocean ecosystems.