World War II Bombs, Torpedo Heads and Naval Mines: How Marine Life Flourishes on Dumped Weapons

In the slightly salty waters off the Germany's coast rests a wasteland of Nazi bombs, torpedoes and naval mines. Dumped from boats at the conclusion of the second world war and neglected, countless explosives have accumulated over the years. They create a decaying layer on the low-depth, muddy ocean floor of the Lübeck Bay in the western part of the Baltic Sea.

Over the decades, the Nazi arsenal was ignored and neglected. A growing number of visitors flocked to the coastal areas and tranquil sea for jetskiing, kite surfing and amusement parks. Below the waves, the weapons eroded.

We initially expected to see a barren area, with nothing living there because it was all contaminated, says a scientist.

When the initial researchers went looking to see what they were doing to the marine environment, the team thought they would find a desert, with nothing living there because it was all toxic, explains the lead researcher.

What they discovered surprised them. Vedenin remembers his team members exclaiming in amazement when the ROV first transmitted footage. This was a great moment, he recalls.

Numerous of ocean life had established habitats amid the munitions, creating a renewed marine community more populous than the ocean bottom nearby.

This underwater metropolis was proof to the resilience of life. It is actually surprising how much life we find in areas that are supposed to be dangerous and dangerous, he explains.

In excess of 40 starfish had piled on to one visible chunk of TNT. They were dwelling on iron containers, ignition chambers 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 resembles a coral reef in terms of the abundance of animal life that was inhabiting the area, says Vedenin.

Surprising Creature Concentration

An average of more than forty thousand creatures were residing on every meter squared of the weapons, researchers documented in their research on the finding. The nearby seabed was much poorer in life, with only eight thousand organisms on every square metre.

It is paradoxical that items that are meant to destroy all life are drawing so much marine organisms, explains Vedenin. You can see how the natural world adjusts after a catastrophic event such as the World War II and how, in some way, marine life establishes itself to the most risky areas.

Artificial Features as Ocean Environments

Artificial structures such as shipwrecks, offshore windfarms, oil rigs and pipelines can provide alternatives, replacing some of the lost habitat. This research shows that munitions could be comparably positive – the bloom of marine organisms on those in the Bay of Lübeck is likely to be duplicated elsewhere.

Between 1946 and 1948, 1.6m tonnes of weapons were disposed of off the Germany's shoreline. Numerous of individuals transported them in boats; some were deposited in designated locations, others just discarded at sea en route. This is the first time experts have recorded how marine life has responded.

Worldwide Examples of Marine Adaptation

• In the United States, decommissioned energy installations have transformed into marine habitats
• Sunken ships from the World War I have become habitats for wildlife along the Potomac River in Maryland
• Military vehicle parts that have become habitat to reef-building organisms off Asan in Guam

These locations become even more crucial for marine life as the seas are increasingly denuded by commercial fishing, bottom trawling and boat mooring. Sunken ships and munitions areas practically serve as sanctuaries – they are not national parks, but virtually any kind of anthropogenic disturbance is prohibited, states Vedenin. Consequently a numerous of organisms that are otherwise rare or decreasing, such as the cod fish, are thriving.

Coming Factors

Anywhere armed conflict has happened in the recent history, adjacent waters are usually containing weapons, explains Vedenin. Many millions of tons of volatile compounds rest in our seas.

The sites of these munitions are inadequately recorded, partially because of sovereign limits, restricted armed forces records and the reality that documents are stored in historic archives. They pose an explosion and security danger, as well as risk from the persistent release of poisonous compounds.

As the German government and additional nations start removing these remains, researchers hope to protect the habitats that have formed in their vicinity. In the Bay of Lübeck munitions are already being extracted.

Researchers recommend substitute these steel remains left from weapons with some more secure, some non-dangerous structures, like perhaps artificial reefs, suggests Vedenin.

He now wishes that what occurs in Lübeck establishes a model for replacing material after munitions removal in different areas – because even the most damaging weaponry can become scaffolding for marine organisms.