World War II Munitions, Torpedoes and Mines: How Ocean Creatures Thrives on Discarded Armaments

In the brackish waters off the Germany's shoreline lies a graveyard of Nazi bombs, torpedo heads and mines. Thrown off barges at the end of the second world war and left behind, countless explosives have become matted together over the decades. They create a rusting layer on the low-depth, silty ocean floor of the Bay of Lübeck in the western tip of the Baltic.

Over the decades, the Nazi arsenal was overlooked and neglected. A increasing amount of tourists flocked to the sandy beaches and calm waters for jetskiing, kiteboarding and entertainment venues. Underwater, the munitions decayed.

We initially thought to see a lifeless zone, with no life because it was all toxic, says a scientist.

When the team went searching to see what they were affecting to the marine environment, the team expected to see a lifeless zone, with no life because it was all poisoned, explains the lead researcher.

What they found amazed them. Vedenin remembers his team members shouting with surprise when the submersible first relayed pictures. This was a remarkable experience, he says.

Thousands of ocean life had settled amid the munitions, developing a revitalized ecosystem denser than the ocean bottom surrounding it.

This marine city was evidence to the resilience of life. It is actually remarkable how much marine organisms we find in areas that are expected to be dangerous and risky, he states.

Over 40 sea stars had piled on to one visible chunk of explosive material. They were living on metal shells, detonator compartments and transport cases just a short distance from its explosive filling. Marine fish, crustaceans, anemones and mussels were all found on the historic weapons. It resembles a reef ecosystem in terms of the abundance of animal life that was inhabiting the area, says Vedenin.

Remarkable Population Density

An mean of more than forty thousand creatures were dwelling on every meter squared of the explosives, scientists reported in their paper on the discovery. The nearby seabed was much poorer in life, with only eight thousand organisms on every square metre.

It is ironic that objects that are intended to eliminate all life are attracting so much life, explains Vedenin. It's evident how the natural world evolves after a major disaster such as the World War II and how, in certain respects, marine life returns to the most dangerous locations.

Man-made Features as Marine Environments

Man-made structures such as shipwrecks, wind turbines, oil rigs and pipelines can offer replacements, compensating for some of the lost habitat. This research shows that munitions could be equally positive – the proliferation of life on those in the Bay of Lübeck is expected to be repeated in other locations.

Between the late 1940s and the post-war period, 1.6m tons of weapons were discarded off the Germany's coast. Countless of people placed them in vessels; some were dropped in allocated sites, the remainder just thrown overboard during transport. This is the initial instance researchers have documented how marine life has adapted.

Worldwide Examples of Ocean Adaptation

• In the United States, retired drilling platforms have become marine habitats
• Sunken ships from the World War I have become homes for wildlife along the Potomac River in Maryland
• Military vehicle parts that have become home to coral off Asan in Guam

These areas become even more crucial for wildlife as the oceans are increasingly denuded by commercial fishing, seafloor dredging and anchoring. Sunken ships and explosive disposal locations effectively serve as protected areas – they are not national parks, but almost any kind of human activity is banned, explains Vedenin. Consequently a numerous of species that are typically uncommon or diminishing, such as the cod fish, are prospering.

Future Issues

Wherever armed conflict has happened in the recent history, adjacent waters are typically containing explosives, says Vedenin. Many millions of tonnes of volatile compounds rest in our seas.

The positions of these weapons are inadequately mapped, in part because of national borders, secret military information and the fact that records are stored in historic archives. They create an explosion and security danger, as well as risk from the persistent emission of hazardous substances.

As the German government and other countries begin removing these remains, scientists aim to protect the marine communities that have developed nearby. In the Bay of Lübeck munitions are already being removed.

It would be wise to substitute these iron structures left from weapons with some safer, some harmless structures, like perhaps concrete structures, states Vedenin.

He now hopes that what transpires in the Bay of Lübeck creates a precedent for replacing habitats after weapon clearance in other locations – because also the most harmful armaments can become scaffolding for marine organisms.