World War II Explosives, Torpedo Heads and Mines: How Marine Life Flourishes on Abandoned Armaments

In the brackish sea off the German shoreline lies a wasteland of Nazi bombs, torpedoes and mines. Discarded from barges at the end of the World War II and forgotten about, thousands explosives have accumulated over the decades. They comprise a corroding blanket on the shallow, muddy seafloor of the Lübeck Bay in the western tip of the Baltic.

Over the decades, the explosive stockpile was overlooked and neglected. A increasing amount of tourists came to the coastal areas and tranquil sea for jetskiing, kiteboarding and entertainment venues. Underwater, the weapons deteriorated.

Researchers thought to see a desert, with nothing living there because it was all poisoned, says a scientist.

When the initial researchers went looking to see what they were affecting to the marine environment, the team anticipated finding a lifeless zone, with no organisms because it was all toxic, says Andrey Vedenin.

What they observed amazed them. Vedenin recounts his scientists shouting with surprise when the ROV first sent the images back. It was a remarkable experience, he recalls.

Countless of ocean life had settled on the weapons, creating a revitalized habitat more populous than the ocean bottom surrounding it.

This underwater metropolis was testament to the tenacity of marine life. Indeed remarkable how much life we find in places that are supposed to be dangerous and dangerous, he explains.

In excess of 40 sea stars had gathered on to one exposed fragment of TNT. They were living on iron containers, ignition chambers and storage boxes just centimetres from its dangerous content. Marine fish, crustaceans, sea anemones and bivalves were all found on the discarded explosives. You could compare it with a marine reef in terms of the abundance of animal life that was there, states Vedenin.

Surprising Population Density

An mean of more than 40,000 creatures were living on every meter squared of the munitions, researchers documented in their paper on the discovery. The nearby seabed was much poorer in life, with only 8,000 individuals on every square metre.

It is ironic that objects that are designed to destroy everything are attracting so much life, says Vedenin. You can see how nature evolves after a devastating occurrence such as the World War II and how, in some way, life establishes itself to the most hazardous places.

Artificial Structures as Marine Habitats

Man-made structures such as sunken vessels, offshore windfarms, oil rigs and pipelines can create replacements, restoring some of the lost habitat. This investigation shows that explosives could be comparably positive – the explosion of life on those in the Lübeck Bay is expected to be repeated in other locations.

Between 1946 and 1948, 1.6m tonnes of weapons were disposed of off the Germany's coast. Countless of workers transported them in boats; a portion were dropped in allocated sites, others just discarded at sea en route. This is the first time experts have studied how ocean organisms has responded.

Global Instances of Ocean Transformation

• In the United States, retired drilling platforms have turned into marine habitats
• Submerged vessels from the first world war have become homes for creatures along the Potomac in the state of Maryland
• Military vehicle parts that have become environment to reef-building organisms off Asan beach in the Pacific island

These areas become even more important for organisms as the seas are increasingly depleted by fishing, seafloor dredging and boat mooring. Sunken ships and munitions areas essentially function as sanctuaries – they are not official reserves, but virtually any kind of human activity is restricted, says Vedenin. Therefore a lot of marine species that are otherwise rare or diminishing, such as the Baltic cod, are flourishing.

Coming Factors

Wherever warfare has occurred in the recent history, nearby oceans are typically littered with munitions, says Vedenin. Many millions of tons of explosive material rest in our marine environments.

The positions of these munitions are poorly recorded, partly because of sovereign limits, classified defense data and the fact that documents are hidden in old files. They create an explosion and safety hazard, as well as danger from the persistent leakage of toxic chemicals.

As Germany and additional nations start extracting these relics, experts aim to safeguard the habitats that have formed nearby. In the Bay of Lübeck weapons are already being removed.

It would be wise to replace these iron structures left from munitions with some more secure, some harmless objects, like perhaps artificial reefs, says Vedenin.

He presently wishes that what transpires in Lübeck creates a precedent for replacing material after munitions removal elsewhere – because including the most damaging armaments can become foundation for new life.