World War II Explosives, Torpedoes and Mines: The Way Ocean Creatures Thrives on Discarded Armaments

In the brackish waters off the German shoreline rests a graveyard of Nazi bombs, torpedo heads and mines. Discarded from boats at the conclusion of the World War II and neglected, numerous explosives have become matted together over the years. They comprise a decaying carpet on the low-depth, silty ocean floor of the Bay of Lübeck in the western part of the Baltic Sea.

Over the years, the Nazi arsenal was overlooked and forgotten about. A growing number of visitors came to the coastal areas and tranquil sea for water sports, kite surfing and amusement parks. Underwater, the munitions eroded.

We initially anticipated to see a desert, with no life because it was all contaminated, says Andrey Vedenin.

When the team went looking to see what they were doing to the ecosystem, some of us expected to see a barren area, with nothing living there because it was all toxic, states Andrey Vedenin.

What they discovered astonished them. Vedenin recalls his scientists shouting with surprise when the underwater vehicle first sent the images back. That moment was a great moment, he notes.

Countless of marine animals had established habitats amid the munitions, developing a renewed marine community richer than the seabed nearby.

This ocean community was testament to the resilience of life. It is actually remarkable how much marine organisms we observe in places that are expected to be hazardous and harmful, he says.

In excess of 40 sea stars had piled on to one visible piece of explosive material. They were dwelling on steel casings, ignition chambers and storage boxes just a short distance from its explosive filling. Marine fish, crustaceans, anemones and bivalves were all found on the historic weapons. You could compare it with a reef ecosystem in terms of the amount of fauna that was there, notes Vedenin.

Surprising Population Density

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

It is surprising that items that are intended to eliminate all life are attracting so much life, says Vedenin. One can observe how the natural world adjusts after a catastrophic event such as the World War II and how, in certain respects, marine life finds its way to the most risky locations.

Man-made Structures as Ocean Habitats

Man-made features such as shipwrecks, wind turbines, drilling platforms and undersea pipes can create substitutes, replacing some of the removed habitat. This research shows that explosives could be equally beneficial – the bloom of marine organisms on those in the Bay of Lübeck is likely to be found elsewhere.

Between the late 1940s and the post-war period, 1.6m tonnes of weapons were disposed of off the German shoreline. Numerous of workers placed them in barges; some were dropped in specific locations, others just thrown overboard en route. This is the first time researchers have documented how ocean organisms has responded.

Worldwide Instances of Marine Adaptation

• In the US, retired energy installations have become marine habitats
• Submerged vessels from the first world war have become habitats for creatures along the Potomac in the state of Maryland
• Tank tracks that have become environment to reef-building organisms off Asan beach in Guam

These locations become even more crucial for wildlife as the marine environments are increasingly stripped by commercial fishing, bottom trawling and boat mooring. Sunken ships and munitions areas practically act as protected areas – they are not national parks, but virtually any kind of anthropogenic disturbance is restricted, explains Vedenin. As a result a numerous of organisms that are otherwise scarce or diminishing, such as the cod fish, are flourishing.

Coming Considerations

Wherever warfare has occurred in the last century, surrounding seas are often littered with explosives, says Vedenin. Millions of tonnes of explosive material lie in our marine environments.

The sites of these munitions are poorly documented, in part because of sovereign limits, restricted military information and the situation that archives are hidden in historical records. They pose an detonation and safety hazard, as well as risk from the continuous release of hazardous substances.

As Germany and additional nations begin removing these relics, scientists plan to safeguard the marine communities that have formed around them. In the Lübeck Bay weapons are already being cleared.

We should replace these iron structures originating from munitions with some safer, some safe objects, like possibly artificial reefs, suggests Vedenin.

He currently wishes that what occurs in Lübeck establishes a precedent for substituting habitats after explosive extraction in other locations – because including the most harmful weaponry can become foundation for new life.