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

In the brackish waters off the Germany's shoreline rests a graveyard of World War II explosives, torpedoes and mines. Dumped from boats at the end of the second world war and neglected, countless explosives have accumulated over the years. They comprise a decaying carpet on the shallow, silty ocean floor of the Bay of Lübeck in the western part of the Baltic Sea.

Over the years, the wartime weapons was overlooked and forgotten about. A increasing amount of visitors traveled to the coastal areas and tranquil sea for jetskiing, kite surfing and amusement parks. Underwater, the weapons eroded.

Some of us thought to see a barren area, with nothing living there because it was all toxic, says a scientist.

When the initial researchers went searching to see what they were doing to the ecosystem, researchers anticipated finding a desert, with no organisms because it was all contaminated, says the lead researcher.

What they observed amazed them. Vedenin recalls his scientists shouting with surprise when the underwater vehicle first transmitted footage. It was a great moment, he says.

Countless of sea creatures had established habitats on the weapons, creating a revitalized ecosystem denser than the ocean bottom surrounding it.

This underwater metropolis was evidence to the tenacity of life. Truly astonishing how much life we find in areas that are supposed to be hazardous and harmful, he states.

In excess of 40 sea stars had gathered on to one accessible fragment of explosive material. They were residing on iron containers, ignition chambers and carrying containers just centimetres from its explosive filling. Fish, crabs, anemones and bivalves were all observed on the discarded explosives. You could compare it with a coral reef in terms of the quantity of animal life that was present, says Vedenin.

Remarkable Population Density

An average of more than 40,000 organisms were living on every square metre of the weapons, scientists wrote in their paper on the observation. The nearby seabed was much sparser, with only eight thousand organisms on every meter squared.

It is surprising that objects that are meant to eliminate everything are hosting so much life, explains Vedenin. It's evident how nature evolves after a catastrophic event such as the second world war and how, in some way, marine life finds its way to the most dangerous areas.

Artificial Structures as Ocean Environments

Man-made structures such as sunken vessels, wind turbines, oil rigs and undersea pipes can provide alternatives, compensating for some of the removed marine environment. This study demonstrates that munitions could be equally advantageous – the explosion of life on those in the Lübeck Bay is likely to be repeated in other locations.

Between 1946 and the post-war period, 1.6 million tonnes of arms were discarded off the German shoreline. Numerous of individuals placed them in barges; some were placed in specific locations, others just discarded at sea en route. This is the initial instance researchers have documented how marine life has adapted.

Worldwide Examples of Ocean Adaptation

• In the US, decommissioned drilling platforms have turned into coral reefs
• Shipwrecks from the World War I have become homes for creatures along the Potomac River in Maryland
• Tank tracks that have become habitat to coral off Asan beach in Guam

These areas become even more valuable for wildlife as the marine environments are increasingly denuded by fishing, seafloor dredging and anchoring. Sunken ships and munitions areas essentially act as protected areas – they are not national parks, but virtually any kind of anthropogenic disturbance is restricted, says Vedenin. Therefore a lot of species that are usually rare or decreasing, such as the Baltic cod, are flourishing.

Future Issues

Wherever armed conflict has taken place in the last century, nearby oceans are often containing explosives, states Vedenin. Many millions of tonnes of dangerous substances remain in our seas.

The sites of these munitions are insufficiently documented, in part because of international boundaries, classified defense data and the fact that records are hidden in historic archives. They pose an explosion and safety risk, as well as threat from the ongoing emission of hazardous substances.

As Germany and different states embark on clearing these remains, researchers plan to protect the habitats that have formed around them. In the Bay of Lübeck munitions are currently being removed.

Researchers recommend replace these iron structures remaining from munitions with some less dangerous, various harmless objects, like possibly artificial reefs, suggests Vedenin.

He currently aspires that what transpires in the Bay of Lübeck establishes a example for replacing material after munitions removal in other locations – because including the most harmful explosives can become scaffolding for ocean ecosystems.