World War II Munitions, Torpedoes and Naval Mines: How Marine Life Thrives on Discarded Weapons

In the brackish waters off the Germany's coast lies a collection of Nazi bombs, torpedoes and mines. Dumped from boats at the conclusion of the second world war and neglected, countless explosives have become matted together over the decades. They create a corroding layer on the shallow, silty ocean floor of the Lübeck Bay in the western part of the Baltic.

Over the decades, the Nazi arsenal was overlooked and neglected. A growing number of visitors traveled to the coastal areas and calm waters for water sports, kiteboarding and amusement parks. Beneath the surface, the weapons decayed.

Some of us expected to see a desert, with nothing living there because it was all contaminated, states the lead researcher.

When the initial researchers went searching to see what they were doing to the ecosystem, the team expected to see a lifeless zone, with no organisms because it was all contaminated, says the lead researcher.

What they discovered astonished them. Vedenin remembers his team members reacting with shock when the submersible first transmitted footage. It was a memorable occasion, he notes.

Countless of sea creatures had settled amid the explosives, developing a regenerated marine community denser than the ocean bottom nearby.

This underwater metropolis was testament to the persistence of life. Indeed surprising how much life we discover in locations that are considered dangerous and dangerous, he explains.

More than 40 sea stars had piled on to one exposed fragment of TNT. They were living on steel casings, detonator compartments and carrying containers just a short distance from its volatile core. Fish, crabs, sea anemones and bivalves were all observed on the old munitions. You could compare it with a marine reef in terms of the quantity of animal life that was inhabiting the area, says Vedenin.

Remarkable Creature Concentration

An average of more than 40,000 creatures were dwelling on every meter squared of the explosives, researchers documented in their research on the discovery. The surrounding area was much less diverse, with only 8,000 creatures on every square metre.

It is surprising that objects that are intended to destroy all life are hosting so much life, explains Vedenin. You can see how the natural world adapts after a catastrophic event such as the World War II and how, in some way, marine life finds its way to the most hazardous places.

Man-made Structures as Ocean Environments

Man-made features such as shipwrecks, offshore windfarms, oil rigs and pipelines can create substitutes, replacing some of the lost marine environment. This study reveals that weapons could be similarly beneficial – the bloom of life on those in the Lübeck Bay is probable to be repeated in different areas.

Between the late 1940s and the post-war period, 1.6 million tons of weapons were dumped off the Germany's coast. Numerous of workers transported them in barges; a portion were deposited in allocated sites, the remainder just thrown overboard during transport. This is the initial instance experts have recorded how marine life has responded.

Worldwide Examples of Ocean Adaptation

• In the US, retired drilling platforms have turned into coral reefs
• Sunken ships from the World War I have become habitats for creatures along the Potomac River in the state of Maryland
• Military vehicle parts that have become environment to reef-building organisms off Asan beach in Guam

These locations become even more valuable for organisms as the oceans are increasingly denuded by commercial fishing, seafloor dredging and boat mooring. Sunken ships and munitions areas effectively act as refuges – they are not official reserves, but virtually any kind of human activity is prohibited, states Vedenin. Therefore a many of organisms that are usually uncommon or declining, such as the cod fish, are thriving.

Coming Issues

Anywhere military conflict has happened in the recent history, surrounding seas are usually containing munitions, states Vedenin. Many millions of tonnes of explosive material remain in our seas.

The sites of these explosives are poorly mapped, partially because of sovereign limits, secret armed forces records and the fact that archives are buried in historic archives. They create an explosion and safety hazard, as well as threat from the persistent release of poisonous compounds.

As Germany and different states start clearing these remains, experts hope to safeguard the habitats that have formed nearby. In the Lübeck Bay weapons are presently being cleared.

We should substitute these metal carcasses remaining from munitions with some less dangerous, some harmless objects, like possibly concrete structures, says Vedenin.

He currently aspires that what occurs in the Bay of Lübeck establishes a example for substituting material after weapon clearance elsewhere – because also the most damaging armaments can become framework for new life.