World War II Bombs, Torpedoes and Naval Mines: The Way Ocean Creatures Flourishes on Abandoned Weapons

In the brackish sea off the Germany's shoreline lies a graveyard of Nazi bombs, torpedo heads and mines. Dumped from vessels at the conclusion of the second world war and left behind, numerous munitions have fused into clusters over the decades. They comprise a decaying blanket on the shallow, muddy ocean floor of the Lübeck Bay in the western part of the Baltic.

Over the years, the Nazi arsenal was overlooked and forgotten about. A growing number of tourists flocked to the coastal areas and tranquil sea for water sports, kiteboarding and entertainment venues. Beneath the surface, the munitions deteriorated.

Some of us anticipated to see a barren area, with no life because it was all contaminated, states the lead researcher.

When the first scientists went looking to see what they were affecting to the marine environment, researchers expected to see a lifeless zone, with no life because it was all toxic, explains the lead researcher.

What they found amazed them. Vedenin recounts his scientists reacting with shock when the underwater vehicle first sent the images back. That moment was a memorable occasion, he says.

Thousands of marine animals had settled amid the explosives, forming a regenerated habitat more populous than the ocean bottom surrounding it.

This marine city was evidence to the resilience of life. Indeed astonishing how much marine organisms we discover in locations that are expected to be dangerous and dangerous, he states.

In excess of 40 sea stars had clustered on to one exposed chunk of TNT. They were living on iron containers, ignition chambers and storage boxes just centimetres from its volatile core. Marine fish, crustaceans, sea anemones and mussels were all observed on the discarded explosives. It's similar to a reef ecosystem in terms of the amount of fauna that was inhabiting the area, notes Vedenin.

Remarkable Creature Concentration

An mean of more than forty thousand creatures were dwelling on every square metre of the weapons, scientists reported in their paper on the discovery. The nearby seabed was much sparser, with only 8,000 creatures on every meter squared.

It is surprising that objects that are meant to destroy all life are hosting so much life, explains Vedenin. You can see how nature adapts after a devastating occurrence such as the World War II and how, in some way, life establishes itself to the most risky areas.

Artificial Features as Ocean Environments

Artificial constructions such as shipwrecks, wind turbines, oil rigs and undersea pipes can offer alternatives, compensating for some of the lost marine environment. This research reveals that weapons could be comparably advantageous – the proliferation of marine organisms on those in the Lübeck Bay is probable to be duplicated elsewhere.

Between the late 1940s and the post-war period, 1.6m tons of munitions were dumped off the Germany's coast. Thousands of people loaded them in vessels; a portion were placed in specific areas, the remainder just dumped en route. This is the initial instance scientists have studied how ocean organisms has responded.

Global Examples of Marine Adaptation

• In the US, decommissioned drilling platforms have transformed into reef ecosystems
• Sunken ships from the World War I have become habitats for creatures along the Potomac River in Maryland
• Tank tracks that have become environment to reef-building organisms off Asan in the Pacific island

These locations become even more crucial for organisms as the oceans are increasingly depleted by fishing, seafloor dredging and boat mooring. Shipwrecks and explosive disposal locations practically serve as sanctuaries – they are not national parks, but virtually any kind of human activity is restricted, says Vedenin. Therefore a lot of organisms that are usually uncommon or decreasing, such as the cod fish, are prospering.

Coming Factors

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

The positions of these weapons are poorly recorded, partially because of sovereign limits, restricted military information and the reality that documents are stored in historical records. They create an explosion and security hazard, as well as risk from the persistent release of toxic chemicals.

As Germany and other countries embark on extracting these relics, experts hope to protect the marine communities that have developed around them. In the Bay of Lübeck weapons are already being removed.

It would be wise to replace these iron structures left from munitions with some safer, some non-dangerous structures, like possibly concrete structures, suggests Vedenin.

He presently wishes that what occurs in the Bay of Lübeck sets a precedent for replacing material after explosive extraction in different areas – because including the most harmful explosives can become scaffolding for new life.