World War II Explosives, Torpedo Heads and Naval Mines: How Marine Life Thrives on Dumped Armaments

In the slightly salty sea off the Germany's coast rests a wasteland of Nazi bombs, torpedo heads and naval mines. Thrown off vessels at the end of the second world war and forgotten about, countless explosives have become matted together over the decades. They create a rusting layer on the shallow, muddy seafloor of the Lübeck Bay in the western tip of the Baltic Sea.

Over the years, the explosive stockpile was overlooked and forgotten about. A growing number of tourists flocked to the coastal areas and calm waters for water sports, kite surfing and entertainment venues. Underwater, the weapons deteriorated.

Some of us thought to see a barren area, with no life because it was all contaminated, states a scientist.

When the initial researchers went investigating to see what they were doing to the ecosystem, the team anticipated finding a desert, with no life because it was all toxic, explains the lead researcher.

What they found amazed them. Vedenin recalls his scientists shouting with surprise when the underwater vehicle first sent the images back. That moment was a remarkable experience, he says.

Countless of ocean life had settled among the explosives, developing a regenerated ecosystem more populous than the seabed surrounding it.

This ocean community was evidence to the tenacity of marine life. Indeed astonishing how much life we observe in locations that are expected to be dangerous and dangerous, he says.

More than 40 starfish had clustered on to one visible chunk of TNT. They were dwelling on iron containers, fuse pockets and transport cases just a short distance from its explosive filling. Fish, crustaceans, anemones and mussels were all observed on the historic weapons. You could compare it with a coral reef in terms of the abundance of animal life that was there, says Vedenin.

Unexpected Population Density

An average of more than forty thousand animals were residing on every meter squared of the munitions, scientists wrote in their paper on the finding. The surrounding area was much sparser, with only eight thousand creatures on every square metre.

It is surprising that items that are intended to eliminate everything are attracting so much life, explains Vedenin. You can see how nature adjusts after a catastrophic event such as the second world war and how, in certain respects, life finds its way to the most risky areas.

Artificial Features as Ocean Habitats

Artificial structures such as sunken vessels, offshore windfarms, oil rigs and pipelines can provide alternatives, compensating for some of the lost marine environment. This study demonstrates that weapons could be comparably advantageous – the explosion of life on those in the Bay of Lübeck is expected to be found in other locations.

Between 1946 and 1948, 1.6 million tonnes of munitions were disposed of off the German coast. Countless of people loaded them in boats; a portion were dropped in allocated sites, others just dumped en route. This is the initial instance researchers have documented how ocean organisms has adapted.

Worldwide Examples of Marine Transformation

• In the US, decommissioned oil and gas structures have transformed into marine habitats
• Submerged vessels from the first world war have become habitats for wildlife along the Potomac River in Maryland
• Military vehicle parts that have become home to coral off Asan beach in the Pacific island

These places become even more crucial for marine life as the marine environments are increasingly stripped by commercial fishing, seafloor dredging and anchoring. Sunken ships and explosive disposal locations effectively function as sanctuaries – they are not official reserves, but nearly any kind of human activity is restricted, explains Vedenin. As a result a lot of species that are usually rare or diminishing, such as the cod fish, are prospering.

Future Factors

Anywhere warfare has occurred in the recent history, adjacent waters are usually strewn with weapons, states Vedenin. Many millions of tons of dangerous substances lie in our oceans.

The positions of these weapons are insufficiently mapped, in part because of sovereign limits, classified military information and the situation that archives are stored in historic archives. They pose an explosion and safety risk, as well as threat from the persistent release of toxic chemicals.

As Germany and different states embark on extracting these relics, experts aim to preserve the ecosystems that have established around them. In the Lübeck Bay explosives are presently being removed.

Researchers recommend replace these iron structures left from weapons 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 example for replacing structures after weapon clearance elsewhere – because even the most damaging armaments can become framework for ocean ecosystems.