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

In the slightly salty sea off the Germany's shoreline rests a graveyard of Nazi bombs, torpedoes and naval mines. Discarded from barges at the conclusion of the second world war and left behind, thousands explosives have fused into clusters over the decades. They create a corroding blanket on the low-depth, silty seafloor of the Bay of Lübeck in the western tip of the Baltic.

Over the decades, the wartime weapons was overlooked and neglected. A growing number of tourists came to the coastal areas and calm waters for jetskiing, kiteboarding and entertainment venues. Below the waves, the munitions decayed.

Some of us expected to see a barren area, with no life because it was all poisoned, says the lead researcher.

When the first scientists went investigating to see what they were affecting to the marine environment, researchers thought they would find a barren area, with no life because it was all poisoned, explains a scientist.

What they found astonished them. Vedenin remembers his colleagues reacting with shock when the submersible first transmitted footage. It was a remarkable experience, he recalls.

Numerous of ocean life had made their homes on the munitions, developing a revitalized habitat more populous than the seabed surrounding it.

This underwater metropolis was testament to the tenacity of marine life. It is actually astonishing how much life we find in places that are considered hazardous and dangerous, he explains.

More than 40 starfish had piled on to one accessible chunk of explosive material. They were dwelling on steel casings, fuse pockets and transport cases just centimetres from its explosive filling. Marine fish, crabs, anemones and bivalves were all found on the historic weapons. It's similar to a reef ecosystem in terms of the abundance of fauna that was inhabiting the area, says Vedenin.

Remarkable Creature Concentration

An mean of more than 40,000 animals were dwelling on every meter squared of the explosives, researchers documented in their paper on the discovery. The surrounding area was much sparser, 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, says Vedenin. One can observe how nature adjusts after a major disaster such as the World War II and how, in certain respects, marine life returns to the most risky places.

Man-made Features as Ocean Environments

Artificial features such as shipwrecks, wind turbines, drilling platforms and undersea pipes can offer replacements, replacing some of the lost marine environment. This investigation reveals that weapons could be similarly advantageous – the proliferation of marine organisms on those in the Bay of Lübeck is probable to be duplicated in other locations.

Between the late 1940s and 1948, 1.6m tons of weapons were dumped off the Germany's shoreline. Thousands of people transported them in barges; a portion were dropped in specific locations, the remainder just thrown overboard while traveling. This is the initial instance researchers have recorded how marine life has reacted.

Global Examples of Ocean Transformation

• In the United States, decommissioned energy installations have transformed into reef ecosystems
• Submerged vessels from the first world war have become habitats for wildlife along the Potomac in Maryland
• Tank tracks that have become home to coral off Asan beach in the Pacific island

These locations become even more crucial for marine life as the oceans are increasingly stripped by fishing, seafloor dredging and boat mooring. Shipwrecks and munitions areas effectively act as sanctuaries – they are not national parks, but virtually any kind of anthropogenic disturbance is prohibited, states Vedenin. As a result a lot of species that are usually uncommon or decreasing, such as the Baltic cod, are flourishing.

Future Factors

Anywhere warfare has happened in the recent history, nearby oceans are usually containing weapons, says Vedenin. Millions of tonnes of explosive material lie in our oceans.

The positions of these munitions are insufficiently mapped, partially because of national borders, classified armed forces records and the situation that records are stored in old files. They pose an detonation and security danger, as well as danger from the ongoing release of toxic chemicals.

As the German government and additional nations embark on removing these remains, scientists plan to preserve the ecosystems that have established in their vicinity. In the Bay of Lübeck munitions are currently being cleared.

It would be wise to substitute these steel remains remaining from weapons with some safer, various non-dangerous structures, like perhaps man-made habitats, suggests Vedenin.

He presently wishes that what occurs in the Bay of Lübeck sets a precedent for substituting material after explosive extraction in other locations – because also the most damaging weaponry can become scaffolding for ocean ecosystems.