World War II Explosives, Torpedoes and Naval Mines: How Ocean Creatures Flourishes on Abandoned Armaments

In the brackish waters off the German shoreline lies a wasteland of Nazi bombs, torpedoes and mines. Discarded from boats at the conclusion of the World War II and left behind, numerous weapons have accumulated over the decades. They comprise a rusting blanket on the low-depth, muddy ocean floor of the Bay of Lübeck in the western tip of the Baltic Sea.

Over the years, the explosive stockpile was ignored and forgotten about. A increasing amount of visitors traveled to the coastal areas and tranquil sea for jetskiing, kite surfing and amusement parks. Underwater, the weapons deteriorated.

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

When the team went investigating to see what they were affecting to the ecosystem, the team anticipated finding a barren area, with nothing living there because it was all toxic, explains a scientist.

What they found astonished them. Vedenin recalls his colleagues shouting with surprise when the ROV first relayed pictures. That moment was a memorable occasion, he recalls.

Thousands of ocean life had made their homes on the explosives, forming a regenerated marine community denser than the sea floor around it.

This marine city was proof to the persistence of life. It is actually astonishing how much life we find in locations that are considered dangerous and dangerous, he explains.

Over 40 starfish had gathered on to one accessible piece of explosive material. They were dwelling on metal shells, ignition chambers and carrying containers just centimetres from its volatile core. Fish, crabs, sea anemones and bivalves were all discovered on the historic weapons. It's similar to a reef ecosystem in terms of the quantity of animal life that was present, notes Vedenin.

Unexpected Creature Concentration

An average of more than 40,000 animals were dwelling on every meter squared of the weapons, experts reported in their paper on the discovery. The surrounding area was much sparser, with only 8,000 individuals on every square metre.

It is ironic that objects that are meant to kill everything are attracting so much life, states Vedenin. It's evident how the natural world adapts after a catastrophic event such as the second world war and how, in some way, marine life finds its way to the most dangerous locations.

Man-made Structures as Marine Habitats

Artificial structures such as sunken vessels, offshore windfarms, drilling platforms and pipelines can create replacements, restoring some of the destroyed habitat. This investigation reveals that weapons could be similarly positive – the bloom of marine organisms on those in the Lübeck Bay is probable to be repeated in different areas.

Between the late 1940s and the post-war period, 1.6m tons of arms were disposed of off the German coast. Numerous of people loaded them in boats; some were dropped in designated sites, the remainder just dumped en route. This is the initial instance researchers have documented how marine life has responded.

Global Examples of Marine Transformation

• In the US, decommissioned energy installations have turned into coral reefs
• Submerged vessels from the World War I have become habitats for wildlife along the Potomac in Maryland
• Military vehicle parts that have become habitat to reef-building organisms off Asan in the Pacific island

These places become even more crucial for marine life as the marine environments are increasingly denuded by commercial fishing, seafloor dredging and boat mooring. Sunken ships and explosive disposal locations practically serve as sanctuaries – they are not official reserves, but nearly any kind of human activity is restricted, explains Vedenin. As a result a lot of species that are usually scarce or decreasing, such as the cod fish, are thriving.

Coming Factors

Wherever warfare has taken place in the past 100 years, surrounding seas are usually littered with weapons, states Vedenin. Millions of tons of explosive material rest in our marine environments.

The positions of these weapons are insufficiently mapped, partially because of sovereign limits, secret defense data and the reality that archives are stored in historic archives. They present an detonation and safety risk, as well as threat from the continuous leakage of toxic chemicals.

As the German government and different states begin clearing these remains, researchers plan to preserve the marine communities that have formed in their vicinity. In the Lübeck Bay weapons are currently being removed.

We should substitute these iron structures originating from weapons with certain more secure, various harmless objects, like maybe man-made habitats, states Vedenin.

He now wishes that what transpires in the Bay of Lübeck sets a precedent for replacing habitats after weapon clearance in other locations – because also the most destructive explosives can become foundation for ocean ecosystems.