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

In the brackish sea off the Germany's coast lies a wasteland of World War II explosives, torpedo heads and mines. Dumped from boats at the end of the World War II and left behind, numerous munitions have accumulated over the decades. They comprise a rusting layer on the shallow, silty ocean floor of the Bay of Lübeck in the western tip of the Baltic.

Over the years, the Nazi arsenal was ignored and neglected. A growing number of visitors came to the sandy beaches and calm waters for water sports, kiteboarding and amusement parks. Underwater, the weapons deteriorated.

We initially expected to see a desert, with no organisms because it was all poisoned, explains Andrey Vedenin.

When the first scientists went searching 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 found amazed them. Vedenin remembers his scientists reacting with shock when the submersible first sent the images back. It was a remarkable experience, he recalls.

Thousands of marine animals had made their homes on the munitions, creating a revitalized ecosystem more populous than the ocean bottom surrounding it.

This marine city was evidence to the persistence of life. Indeed remarkable how much marine organisms we observe in places that are supposed to be dangerous and dangerous, he says.

More than 40 sea stars had piled on to one visible piece of TNT. They were dwelling on iron containers, detonator compartments and transport cases just centimetres from its explosive filling. Fish, crustaceans, sea anemones and bivalves were all discovered on the old munitions. You could compare it with a marine reef in terms of the amount of animal life that was present, notes Vedenin.

Unexpected Population Density

An average of more than forty thousand organisms were residing on every square metre of the weapons, researchers documented in their study on the observation. The nearby seabed was much poorer in life, with only 8,000 organisms on every meter squared.

It is ironic that items that are designed to destroy all life are hosting so much life, says Vedenin. You can see how the natural world adapts after a catastrophic event such as the World War II and how, in certain respects, life finds its way to the most dangerous areas.

Man-made Structures as Marine Habitats

Artificial features such as sunken vessels, offshore windfarms, oil rigs and pipelines can offer substitutes, compensating for some of the lost marine environment. This study demonstrates that weapons could be comparably advantageous – the bloom of marine organisms on those in the Lübeck Bay is probable to be repeated in other locations.

Between 1946 and 1948, 1.6 million tons of munitions were dumped off the Germany's shoreline. Numerous of people transported them in barges; a portion were dropped in allocated locations, others just dumped while traveling. This is the first time researchers have documented how marine life has reacted.

Global Instances of Marine Adaptation

• In the US, retired oil and gas structures have transformed into coral reefs
• Submerged vessels from the first world war have become habitats for wildlife along the Potomac in Maryland
• Military vehicle parts that have become habitat to reef-building organisms off Asan in the Pacific island

These areas become even more important for marine life as the marine environments are increasingly stripped by fishing, bottom trawling and boat mooring. Shipwrecks and explosive disposal locations practically serve as sanctuaries – they are not official reserves, but virtually any kind of human activity is banned, explains Vedenin. As a result a lot of organisms that are usually rare or decreasing, such as the cod fish, are prospering.

Future Considerations

Anywhere warfare has occurred in the past 100 years, adjacent waters are typically littered with munitions, says Vedenin. Millions of tons of dangerous substances lie in our marine environments.

The locations of these explosives are poorly documented, partially because of sovereign limits, classified armed forces records and the situation that archives are buried in historical records. They create an explosion and safety danger, as well as danger from the ongoing leakage of toxic chemicals.

As the German government and different states embark on clearing these relics, experts hope to protect the ecosystems that have established around them. In the Bay of Lübeck explosives are already being removed.

It would be wise to substitute these iron structures left from munitions with certain safer, some harmless materials, like perhaps concrete structures, suggests Vedenin.

He currently aspires that what transpires in the Bay of Lübeck sets a precedent for substituting habitats after weapon clearance elsewhere – because also the most damaging weaponry can become foundation for ocean ecosystems.