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

In the brackish sea off the Germany's coast sits a wasteland of World War II explosives, torpedo heads and mines. Discarded from barges at the end of the World War II and neglected, countless munitions have fused into clusters over the decades. They comprise a corroding carpet on the shallow, muddy seafloor of the Bay of Lübeck in the western part of the Baltic.

Over the decades, the wartime weapons was overlooked and forgotten about. A growing number of visitors traveled to the coastal areas and tranquil sea for jetskiing, kite surfing and entertainment venues. Underwater, the munitions deteriorated.

Some of us expected to see a lifeless zone, with nothing living there because it was all contaminated, explains Andrey Vedenin.

When the initial researchers went investigating to see what they were doing to the marine environment, some of us anticipated finding a desert, with nothing living there because it was all contaminated, says a scientist.

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

Thousands of ocean life had settled on the munitions, developing a renewed ecosystem richer than the sea floor around it.

This underwater metropolis was testament to the persistence of life. Truly astonishing how much marine organisms we observe in places that are expected to be dangerous and risky, he states.

Over 40 starfish had gathered on to one visible piece of explosive material. They were residing on iron containers, fuse pockets and storage boxes just a short distance from its volatile core. Marine fish, crabs, anemones and mussels were all found on the historic weapons. It's similar to a marine reef in terms of the abundance of fauna that was there, states Vedenin.

Unexpected Population Density

An mean of more than forty thousand creatures were residing on every square metre of the weapons, scientists wrote in their research on the discovery. The adjacent region was much poorer in life, with only 8,000 creatures on every meter squared.

It is paradoxical that things that are intended to eliminate everything are drawing so much marine organisms, states Vedenin. It's evident how nature adjusts after a catastrophic event such as the World War II and how, in some way, marine life establishes itself to the most hazardous places.

Artificial Structures as Marine Habitats

Artificial features such as shipwrecks, wind turbines, oil rigs and pipelines can create substitutes, compensating for some of the destroyed habitat. This research shows that explosives could be similarly beneficial – the explosion of marine organisms on those in the Bay of Lübeck is probable to be duplicated in other locations.

Between 1946 and the post-war period, 1.6 million tons of weapons were discarded off the Germany's shoreline. Countless of people placed them in barges; some were deposited in designated areas, others just discarded at sea en route. This is the first time researchers have recorded how ocean organisms has adapted.

Global Examples of Ocean Transformation

• In the United States, retired drilling platforms have become reef ecosystems
• Shipwrecks from the World War I have become homes for creatures along the Potomac River in the state of Maryland
• Tank tracks that have become habitat to coral off Asan beach in the Pacific island

These areas become even more crucial for marine life as the oceans are increasingly depleted by fishing, bottom trawling and anchoring. Sunken ships and munitions areas practically act as sanctuaries – they are not national parks, but virtually any kind of anthropogenic disturbance is banned, states Vedenin. Consequently a lot of marine species that are otherwise uncommon or diminishing, such as the Baltic cod, are thriving.

Future Issues

Wherever military conflict has occurred in the recent history, surrounding seas are often littered with munitions, states Vedenin. Many millions of tonnes of volatile compounds rest in our marine environments.

The locations of these munitions are insufficiently documented, partially because of national borders, secret military information and the fact that documents are stored in old files. They pose an explosion and security danger, as well as threat from the persistent leakage of hazardous substances.

As the German government and different states embark on removing these artifacts, researchers aim to safeguard the marine communities that have formed nearby. In the Lübeck Bay munitions are currently being cleared.

Researchers recommend substitute these steel remains left from weapons with certain less dangerous, various non-dangerous materials, like perhaps man-made habitats, says Vedenin.

He presently aspires that what happens in the Bay of Lübeck establishes a precedent for replacing structures after munitions removal elsewhere – because also the most damaging weaponry can become scaffolding for marine organisms.