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

In the slightly salty sea off the Germany's coast lies a graveyard of Nazi bombs, torpedoes and naval mines. Discarded from boats at the conclusion of the World War II and neglected, numerous weapons have become matted together over the years. They create a corroding carpet on the low-depth, silty seafloor of the Lübeck Bay in the western tip of the Baltic Sea.

Over the years, the Nazi arsenal was ignored and forgotten about. A growing number of visitors traveled to the coastal areas and calm waters for water sports, kite surfing and amusement parks. Underwater, the weapons deteriorated.

We initially anticipated to see a barren area, with no life because it was all poisoned, says Andrey Vedenin.

When the team went investigating to see what they were doing to the marine environment, researchers anticipated finding a desert, with nothing living there because it was all poisoned, states the lead researcher.

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

Thousands of marine animals had established habitats on the munitions, creating a regenerated marine community richer than the ocean bottom nearby.

This ocean community was proof to the tenacity of life. Indeed astonishing how much life we discover in locations that are expected to be hazardous and risky, he says.

In excess of 40 sea stars had piled on to one visible chunk of explosive material. They were living on iron containers, fuse pockets and carrying containers just a short distance from its volatile core. Fish, crabs, anemones and bivalves were all discovered on the old munitions. It resembles a coral reef in terms of the amount of animal life that was present, says Vedenin.

Remarkable Creature Concentration

An mean of more than forty thousand creatures were dwelling on every square metre of the weapons, researchers reported in their paper on the discovery. The surrounding area was much less diverse, with only 8,000 creatures on every square metre.

It is paradoxical that objects that are meant to kill everything are attracting so much marine organisms, states Vedenin. You can see how the natural world adjusts after a devastating occurrence such as the World War II and how, in certain respects, life returns to the most hazardous places.

Artificial Features as Ocean Environments

Artificial structures such as shipwrecks, offshore windfarms, drilling platforms and pipelines can create substitutes, restoring some of the lost marine environment. This research reveals that explosives could be comparably advantageous – the proliferation of life on those in the Bay of Lübeck is expected to be found in other locations.

Between 1946 and 1948, 1.6m tonnes of weapons were disposed of off the Germany's shoreline. Thousands of workers transported them in vessels; a portion were dropped in designated sites, the remainder just dumped while traveling. This is the first time scientists have studied how ocean organisms has adapted.

Global Instances of Ocean Transformation

• In the US, decommissioned energy installations have become coral reefs
• Submerged vessels from the first world war have become environments for marine life along the Potomac in Maryland
• Military vehicle parts that have become home to coral off Asan in the Pacific island

These areas become even more valuable for wildlife as the marine environments are increasingly stripped by commercial fishing, bottom trawling and boat mooring. Shipwrecks and explosive disposal locations practically act as sanctuaries – they are not national parks, but nearly any kind of anthropogenic disturbance is banned, explains Vedenin. Consequently a numerous of species that are otherwise rare or decreasing, such as the Baltic cod, are prospering.

Future Considerations

Wherever military conflict has occurred in the recent history, surrounding seas are usually containing explosives, explains Vedenin. Millions of tons of volatile compounds rest in our marine environments.

The positions of these munitions are insufficiently recorded, partially because of national borders, classified military information and the fact that documents are buried in old files. They create an detonation and security danger, as well as danger from the persistent emission of poisonous compounds.

As Germany and additional nations embark on clearing these remains, researchers hope to safeguard the marine communities that have established around them. In the Lübeck Bay explosives are presently being extracted.

It would be wise to replace these steel remains remaining from munitions with certain safer, some harmless materials, like maybe artificial reefs, suggests Vedenin.

He presently aspires that what transpires in Lübeck establishes a precedent for substituting material after weapon clearance in other locations – because even the most harmful explosives can become framework for ocean ecosystems.