World War II Explosives, Torpedo Heads and Mines: The Way Ocean Creatures Thrives on Abandoned Weapons

In the brackish waters off the Germany's shoreline sits a collection of Nazi bombs, torpedo heads and mines. Dumped from boats at the conclusion of the World War II and forgotten about, thousands explosives have become matted together over the decades. They create a decaying carpet on the shallow, silty ocean floor of the Lübeck Bay in the western part of the Baltic.

Over the years, the explosive stockpile was ignored and neglected. A growing number of visitors flocked to the coastal areas and calm waters for water sports, kite surfing and entertainment venues. Beneath the surface, the munitions deteriorated.

Researchers anticipated to see a desert, with nothing living there because it was all contaminated, explains a scientist.

When the first scientists went looking to see what they were affecting to the marine environment, researchers anticipated finding a barren area, with no life because it was all contaminated, says Andrey Vedenin.

What they observed amazed them. Vedenin remembers his scientists shouting with surprise when the ROV first relayed pictures. That moment was a great moment, he recalls.

Thousands of sea creatures had settled among the weapons, developing a regenerated habitat denser than the seabed surrounding it.

This marine city was proof to the tenacity of marine life. Truly astonishing how much marine organisms we find in areas that are considered hazardous and risky, he explains.

More than 40 starfish had clustered on to one exposed fragment of TNT. They were dwelling on metal shells, ignition chambers and transport cases just a short distance from its dangerous content. Fish, crabs, anemones and mussels were all observed on the discarded explosives. You could compare it with a reef ecosystem in terms of the quantity of fauna that was there, states Vedenin.

Remarkable Population Density

An average of more than forty thousand creatures were dwelling on every meter squared of the munitions, experts wrote in their study on the finding. The nearby seabed was much sparser, with only eight thousand creatures on every meter squared.

It is ironic that items that are designed to kill everything are attracting so much marine organisms, explains Vedenin. One can observe how nature evolves after a catastrophic event such as the second world war and how, in certain respects, marine life establishes itself to the most dangerous places.

Artificial Structures as Marine Environments

Artificial structures such as sunken vessels, offshore windfarms, oil rigs and pipelines can create replacements, restoring some of the lost habitat. This research reveals that weapons could be similarly positive – the bloom of marine organisms on those in the Bay of Lübeck is likely to be found in other locations.

Between the late 1940s and the post-war period, 1.6 million tonnes of weapons were disposed of off the Germany's shoreline. Thousands of people transported them in vessels; some were dropped in allocated sites, the remainder just dumped en route. This is the first time experts have studied how ocean organisms has responded.

Global Instances of Marine Adaptation

• In the US, retired energy installations have transformed into coral reefs
• Sunken ships from the World War I have become homes for marine life along the Potomac River in Maryland
• Military vehicle parts that have become environment to coral off Asan in Guam

These places become even more important for marine life as the marine environments are increasingly depleted by commercial fishing, seafloor dredging and anchoring. Sunken ships and weapons dump sites essentially function as sanctuaries – they are not official reserves, but nearly any kind of human activity is restricted, explains Vedenin. Consequently a lot of species that are otherwise scarce or diminishing, such as the Baltic cod, are prospering.

Future Issues

Wherever armed conflict has occurred in the recent history, nearby oceans are often containing weapons, says Vedenin. Millions of tonnes of volatile compounds remain in our seas.

The sites of these munitions are inadequately mapped, partially because of sovereign limits, restricted armed forces records and the situation that records are buried in historical records. They create an detonation and safety hazard, as well as threat from the ongoing release of poisonous compounds.

As Germany and additional nations embark on clearing these remains, researchers hope to preserve the marine communities that have established in their vicinity. In the Lübeck Bay munitions are currently being cleared.

We should replace these steel remains remaining from munitions with some more secure, some non-dangerous materials, like maybe man-made habitats, suggests Vedenin.

He now hopes that what occurs in Lübeck establishes a precedent for replacing structures after weapon clearance elsewhere – because also the most destructive explosives can become framework for new life.