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

In the brackish sea off the German shoreline sits a wasteland of Nazi bombs, torpedoes and mines. Discarded from barges at the end of the World War II and neglected, countless explosives have fused into clusters over the decades. They create a rusting layer on the shallow, muddy seafloor of the Bay of Lübeck in the western part of the Baltic.

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

Researchers expected to see a desert, with nothing living there because it was all toxic, says the lead researcher.

When the initial researchers went investigating to see what they were doing to the ecosystem, some of us anticipated finding a lifeless zone, with no organisms because it was all poisoned, explains a scientist.

What they found astonished them. Vedenin recalls his colleagues exclaiming in amazement when the submersible first relayed pictures. That moment was a great moment, he recalls.

Thousands of ocean life had established habitats on the munitions, developing a regenerated ecosystem richer than the seabed nearby.

This ocean community was proof to the tenacity of life. Indeed surprising how much marine organisms we observe in locations that are expected to be toxic and harmful, he states.

More than 40 starfish had gathered on to one exposed fragment of TNT. They were dwelling on iron containers, fuse pockets and carrying containers just centimetres from its volatile core. Marine fish, crustaceans, sea anemones and mussels were all observed on the historic weapons. It's similar to a coral reef in terms of the amount of creatures that was present, states Vedenin.

Remarkable Population Density

An average of more than 40,000 organisms were living on every square metre of the weapons, scientists reported in their research on the discovery. The adjacent region was much poorer in life, with only 8,000 individuals on every square metre.

It is ironic that objects that are intended to destroy all life are hosting so much life, states Vedenin. It's evident how the natural world evolves after a catastrophic event such as the second world war and how, in some way, life returns to the most hazardous locations.

Artificial Features as Marine Habitats

Artificial structures such as sunken vessels, wind turbines, oil rigs and pipelines can create replacements, compensating for some of the lost habitat. This study demonstrates that munitions could be comparably positive – the bloom of marine organisms on those in the Bay of Lübeck is probable to be duplicated in different areas.

Between the late 1940s and the post-war period, 1.6 million tonnes of munitions were disposed of off the German coast. Numerous of workers placed them in boats; a portion were dropped in designated locations, others just thrown overboard while traveling. This is the initial instance scientists have studied how ocean organisms has responded.

Global Examples of Marine Transformation

• In the US, decommissioned oil and gas structures have transformed into marine habitats
• Sunken ships from the first world war have become homes for creatures along the Potomac River in Maryland
• Military vehicle parts that have become home to reef-building organisms off Asan in the Pacific island

These locations become even more crucial for wildlife as the seas are increasingly stripped by fishing, seafloor dredging and boat mooring. Sunken ships and munitions areas effectively function as sanctuaries – they are not official reserves, but almost any kind of human activity is restricted, states Vedenin. As a result a many of species that are typically rare or decreasing, such as the cod fish, are thriving.

Coming Issues

Anywhere military conflict has happened in the last century, nearby oceans are often littered with munitions, explains Vedenin. Millions of tonnes of volatile compounds remain in our seas.

The positions of these weapons are poorly recorded, in part because of international boundaries, secret defense data and the situation that archives are buried in old files. They present an explosion and safety risk, as well as risk from the persistent leakage of toxic chemicals.

As Germany and other countries embark on clearing these artifacts, scientists hope to protect the ecosystems that have established in their vicinity. In the Lübeck Bay explosives are already being removed.

It would be wise to replace these iron structures remaining from weapons with certain safer, some non-dangerous structures, like perhaps artificial reefs, says Vedenin.

He now hopes that what transpires in Lübeck creates a model for replacing structures after munitions removal in different areas – because also the most destructive explosives can become framework for marine organisms.