World War II Munitions, Torpedoes and Mines: The Way Ocean Creatures Flourishes on Discarded Weapons

In the brackish waters off the Germany's shoreline rests a graveyard of Nazi bombs, torpedo heads and mines. Discarded from barges at the conclusion of the World War II and neglected, countless weapons have become matted together over the decades. They create a decaying layer on the shallow, silty ocean floor of the Bay of Lübeck in the western tip of the Baltic.

Over the years, the Nazi arsenal was ignored and forgotten about. A growing number of visitors traveled to the coastal areas and calm waters for water sports, kite surfing and amusement parks. Underwater, the weapons eroded.

We initially anticipated to see a barren area, with nothing living there because it was all poisoned, explains Andrey Vedenin.

When the initial researchers went investigating to see what they were affecting to the marine environment, some of us thought they would find a barren area, with nothing living there because it was all toxic, states Andrey Vedenin.

What they observed surprised them. Vedenin recounts his scientists reacting with shock when the submersible first relayed pictures. That moment was a great moment, he notes.

Countless of marine animals had settled amid the explosives, creating a regenerated marine community more populous than the ocean bottom surrounding it.

This marine city was evidence to the tenacity of marine life. Indeed astonishing how much marine organisms we observe in areas that are supposed to be dangerous and dangerous, he says.

More than 40 starfish had gathered on to one visible piece of TNT. They were residing on iron containers, ignition chambers and transport cases just centimetres from its explosive filling. Fish, crustaceans, sea anemones and mussels were all observed on the historic weapons. It resembles a reef ecosystem in terms of the amount of creatures that was there, states Vedenin.

Unexpected Creature Concentration

An mean of more than forty thousand creatures were residing on every square metre of the explosives, experts reported in their paper on the finding. The nearby seabed was much sparser, with only eight thousand individuals on every meter squared.

It is paradoxical that objects that are designed to eliminate all life are drawing so much life, states Vedenin. One can observe how nature adjusts after a devastating occurrence such as the World War II and how, in certain respects, life finds its way to the most dangerous locations.

Artificial Features as Ocean Environments

Artificial constructions such as sunken vessels, offshore windfarms, oil rigs and undersea pipes can offer replacements, compensating for some of the lost habitat. This research reveals that munitions could be equally positive – the explosion of marine organisms on those in the Lübeck Bay is probable to be found in different areas.

Between the late 1940s and the post-war period, 1.6 million tons of weapons were discarded off the Germany's shoreline. Countless of individuals transported them in vessels; some were placed in allocated locations, the remainder just dumped while traveling. This is the first time scientists have recorded how ocean organisms has adapted.

Global Instances of Marine Transformation

• In the US, decommissioned energy installations have transformed into marine habitats
• Submerged vessels from the World War I have become homes for wildlife along the Potomac in the state of Maryland
• Tank tracks that have become home to coral off Asan beach in the Pacific island

These places become even more important for marine life as the marine environments are increasingly stripped by fishing, bottom trawling and anchoring. Shipwrecks and munitions areas essentially act as sanctuaries – they are not official reserves, but nearly any kind of anthropogenic disturbance is prohibited, explains Vedenin. Therefore a numerous of species that are typically rare or decreasing, such as the cod fish, are thriving.

Future Factors

Wherever warfare has taken place in the recent history, surrounding seas are often containing weapons, states Vedenin. Many millions of tons of volatile compounds lie in our oceans.

The positions of these explosives are poorly documented, in part because of international boundaries, secret armed forces records and the reality that documents are stored in historical records. They create an detonation and safety danger, as well as danger from the continuous emission of poisonous compounds.

As the German government and other countries begin removing these relics, scientists plan to safeguard the marine communities that have developed nearby. In the Lübeck Bay explosives are currently being extracted.

Researchers recommend substitute these iron structures remaining from weapons with some less dangerous, some safe structures, like possibly artificial reefs, suggests Vedenin.

He currently wishes that what occurs in the Bay of Lübeck sets a model for substituting structures after weapon clearance in different areas – because also the most harmful explosives can become foundation for new life.