World War II Bombs, Torpedo Heads and Naval Mines: The Way Marine Life Thrives on Discarded Armaments

In the brackish sea off the German coast rests a wasteland of World War II explosives, torpedo heads and naval mines. Thrown off barges at the end of the World War II and left behind, numerous munitions have fused into clusters over the decades. They comprise a decaying carpet on the shallow, silty ocean floor of the Lübeck Bay in the western part of the Baltic.

Over the decades, the wartime weapons was overlooked and neglected. A growing number of visitors traveled to the sandy beaches and tranquil sea for jetskiing, kite surfing and entertainment venues. Beneath the surface, the munitions decayed.

Some of us expected to see a barren area, with no organisms because it was all contaminated, states a scientist.

When the first scientists went investigating to see what they were doing to the ecosystem, the team expected to see a barren area, with no life because it was all poisoned, states Andrey Vedenin.

What they discovered surprised them. Vedenin recalls his team members exclaiming in amazement when the ROV first sent the images back. It was a memorable occasion, he recalls.

Countless of ocean life had settled amid the explosives, forming a regenerated habitat denser than the ocean bottom surrounding it.

This ocean community was proof to the tenacity of life. Truly astonishing how much life we discover in locations that are expected to be hazardous and dangerous, he states.

Over 40 starfish had gathered on to one exposed piece of TNT. They were residing on steel casings, detonator compartments and storage boxes just a short distance from its dangerous content. 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 creatures that was inhabiting the area, notes Vedenin.

Remarkable Population Density

An mean of more than forty thousand creatures were residing on every meter squared of the weapons, experts wrote in their research on the observation. The adjacent region was much sparser, with only eight thousand individuals on every square metre.

It is paradoxical that things that are designed to destroy all life are hosting so much life, explains Vedenin. You can see how nature adapts after a major disaster such as the World War II and how, in certain respects, life establishes itself to the most hazardous places.

Man-made Structures as Marine Environments

Artificial features such as shipwrecks, wind turbines, drilling platforms and undersea pipes can create alternatives, replacing some of the removed habitat. This investigation reveals that explosives could be similarly positive – the bloom of marine organisms on those in the Bay of Lübeck is expected to be duplicated in other locations.

Between 1946 and 1948, 1.6 million tonnes of munitions were dumped off the Germany's shoreline. Numerous of workers placed them in vessels; some were placed in designated areas, others just thrown overboard while traveling. This is the first time experts have documented how marine life has adapted.

Global Examples of Ocean Transformation

• In the United States, decommissioned energy installations have transformed into coral reefs
• Sunken ships from the World War I have become homes for creatures along the Potomac in Maryland
• Military vehicle parts that have become environment to coral off Asan in the Pacific island

These locations become even more important for organisms as the oceans are increasingly denuded by commercial fishing, bottom trawling and boat mooring. Shipwrecks and explosive disposal locations practically function as refuges – they are not official reserves, but nearly any kind of anthropogenic disturbance is prohibited, states Vedenin. As a result a many of species that are otherwise rare or diminishing, such as the Baltic cod, are thriving.

Coming Factors

Anywhere military conflict has occurred in the recent history, adjacent waters are often littered with weapons, says Vedenin. Many millions of tonnes of explosive material remain in our seas.

The positions of these munitions are inadequately mapped, partly because of national borders, classified defense data and the fact that documents are stored in old files. They create an detonation and security risk, as well as threat from the ongoing leakage of poisonous compounds.

As Germany and other countries start removing these relics, scientists hope to preserve the marine communities that have formed nearby. In the Bay of Lübeck explosives are currently being removed.

It would be wise to replace these steel remains originating from weapons with some more secure, various safe structures, like possibly man-made habitats, says Vedenin.

He now aspires that what happens in Lübeck establishes a model for replacing structures after weapon clearance in other locations – because including the most destructive armaments can become framework for new life.