World War II Explosives, Torpedoes and Mines: How Marine Life Prosper on Dumped Armaments

In the brackish sea off the Germany's shoreline rests a wasteland of World War II explosives, torpedoes and naval mines. Thrown off boats at the end of the World War II and neglected, countless weapons have fused into clusters over the years. They comprise a rusting layer on the shallow, muddy ocean floor of the Bay of Lübeck in the western part of the Baltic.

Over the years, the explosive stockpile was ignored and forgotten about. A growing number of visitors traveled to the coastal areas and tranquil sea for water sports, kiteboarding and amusement parks. Beneath the surface, the weapons deteriorated.

Researchers thought to see a barren area, with nothing living there because it was all contaminated, states a scientist.

When the team went looking to see what they were affecting to the marine environment, the team expected to see a desert, with no organisms because it was all toxic, explains the lead researcher.

What they discovered surprised them. Vedenin recalls his scientists exclaiming in amazement when the underwater vehicle first relayed pictures. It was a great moment, he recalls.

Thousands of ocean life had settled on the explosives, forming a renewed habitat more populous than the ocean bottom surrounding it.

This marine city was testament to the resilience of marine life. Truly surprising how much marine organisms we observe in areas that are expected to be toxic and harmful, he explains.

Over 40 sea stars had gathered on to one accessible piece of TNT. They were dwelling on metal shells, fuse pockets and carrying containers just a short distance from its volatile core. Fish, crabs, sea anemones and bivalves were all discovered on the discarded explosives. You could compare it with a marine reef in terms of the quantity of animal life that was there, states Vedenin.

Surprising Creature Concentration

An average of more than forty thousand creatures were living on every square metre of the weapons, scientists documented in their paper on the observation. The adjacent region was much less diverse, with only eight thousand individuals on every meter squared.

It is paradoxical that items that are designed to destroy all life are attracting so much marine organisms, states Vedenin. You can see how nature evolves after a devastating occurrence such as the second world war and how, in certain respects, life establishes itself to the most dangerous areas.

Man-made Features as Ocean Habitats

Artificial structures such as sunken vessels, offshore windfarms, drilling platforms and undersea pipes can offer replacements, replacing some of the destroyed marine environment. This research reveals that munitions could be similarly advantageous – the bloom of life on those in the Bay of Lübeck is likely to be found in different areas.

Between the late 1940s and 1948, 1.6m tonnes of munitions were disposed of off the Germany's shoreline. Numerous of workers placed them in boats; some were dropped in allocated areas, the remainder just discarded at sea while traveling. This is the first time experts have studied how ocean organisms has reacted.

Global Examples of Ocean Transformation

• In the United States, retired energy installations have turned into coral reefs
• Sunken ships from the first world war have become habitats for wildlife along the Potomac River in Maryland
• Military vehicle parts that have become home to reef-building organisms off Asan beach in the Pacific island

These locations become even more valuable for marine life as the seas are increasingly denuded by commercial fishing, seafloor dredging and anchoring. Sunken ships and explosive disposal locations practically function as protected areas – they are not official reserves, but almost any kind of human activity is prohibited, says Vedenin. Therefore a lot of marine species that are typically uncommon or diminishing, such as the cod fish, are flourishing.

Coming Considerations

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

The locations of these weapons are inadequately documented, partially because of international boundaries, classified armed forces records and the situation that documents are hidden in historic archives. They present an detonation and safety risk, as well as risk from the persistent leakage of toxic chemicals.

As the German government and different states embark on clearing these artifacts, researchers hope to safeguard the ecosystems that have established around them. In the Lübeck Bay explosives are already being extracted.

We should substitute these steel remains remaining from weapons with some safer, some safe objects, like maybe artificial reefs, suggests Vedenin.

He now hopes that what occurs in Lübeck establishes a example for substituting structures after explosive extraction in other locations – because even the most damaging explosives can become framework for new life.