World War II Explosives, Torpedo Heads and Naval Mines: The Way Marine Life Prosper on Abandoned Weapons

In the slightly salty waters off the German shoreline lies a graveyard of Nazi bombs, torpedo heads and mines. Thrown off vessels at the end of the World War II and neglected, countless munitions have fused into clusters over the years. They create a decaying layer on the shallow, silty ocean floor of the Bay of Lübeck in the western part of the Baltic.

Over the years, the Nazi arsenal was overlooked and forgotten about. A increasing amount of tourists came to the coastal areas and calm waters for water sports, kite surfing and entertainment venues. Below the waves, the munitions eroded.

Some of us thought to see a desert, with no life because it was all contaminated, says a scientist.

When the team went investigating to see what they were doing to the marine environment, some of us thought they would find a barren area, with nothing living there because it was all poisoned, explains Andrey Vedenin.

What they discovered astonished them. Vedenin recounts his team members reacting with shock when the ROV first sent the images back. That moment was a remarkable experience, he recalls.

Thousands of ocean life had established habitats among the weapons, forming a regenerated ecosystem richer than the seabed nearby.

This underwater metropolis was evidence to the tenacity of life. Indeed surprising how much marine organisms we find in areas that are expected to be toxic and dangerous, he states.

In excess of 40 starfish had gathered on to one visible chunk of explosive material. They were residing on iron containers, fuse pockets and storage boxes just centimetres from its volatile core. Marine fish, crabs, anemones and mussels were all discovered on the discarded explosives. You could compare it with a marine reef in terms of the abundance of fauna that was present, says Vedenin.

Surprising Creature Concentration

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

It is paradoxical that objects that are intended to eliminate all life are attracting so much marine organisms, explains Vedenin. One can observe how nature adapts after a devastating occurrence such as the second world war and how, in certain respects, life establishes itself to the most risky places.

Artificial Features as Ocean Environments

Artificial constructions such as sunken vessels, wind turbines, oil rigs and pipelines can create replacements, compensating for some of the lost marine environment. This study shows that munitions could be similarly positive – the bloom of marine organisms on those in the Lübeck Bay is expected to be found in other locations.

Between 1946 and 1948, 1.6m tonnes of arms were discarded off the Germany's shoreline. Thousands of people transported them in boats; a portion were deposited in specific areas, others just thrown overboard while traveling. This is the initial instance researchers have recorded how ocean organisms has responded.

Worldwide Examples of Marine Transformation

• In the United States, retired energy installations have transformed into marine habitats
• Shipwrecks from the World War I have become homes for wildlife along the Potomac River in Maryland
• Military vehicle parts that have become habitat to coral off Asan in the Pacific island

These areas become even more crucial for organisms as the oceans are increasingly depleted by commercial fishing, bottom trawling and boat mooring. Shipwrecks and explosive disposal locations practically function as protected areas – they are not official reserves, but nearly any kind of human activity is banned, says Vedenin. Consequently a lot of marine species that are typically rare or declining, such as the Baltic cod, are flourishing.

Future Considerations

Anywhere armed conflict has occurred in the past 100 years, nearby oceans are typically littered with explosives, states Vedenin. Millions of tons of dangerous substances rest in our seas.

The locations of these munitions are poorly recorded, partially because of international boundaries, restricted armed forces records and the fact that documents are buried in old files. They pose an explosion and security hazard, as well as threat from the persistent leakage of hazardous substances.

As the German government and different states begin extracting these relics, experts aim to protect the ecosystems that have established around them. In the Lübeck Bay weapons are already being removed.

Researchers recommend replace these iron structures originating from weapons with certain less dangerous, various safe materials, like possibly man-made habitats, states Vedenin.

He presently wishes that what transpires in the Bay of Lübeck establishes a example for replacing material after explosive extraction in different areas – because even the most harmful explosives can become foundation for marine organisms.