World War II Bombs, Torpedoes and Naval Mines: The Way Ocean Creatures Thrives on Discarded Weapons

In the brackish sea off the German shoreline rests a collection of World War II explosives, torpedo heads and naval mines. Dumped from vessels at the end of the second world war and neglected, countless explosives have fused into clusters over the decades. They create a corroding blanket on the shallow, silty seafloor of the Bay of Lübeck in the western part of the Baltic Sea.

Over the years, the explosive stockpile was overlooked and forgotten about. A growing number of tourists traveled to the sandy beaches and calm waters for jetskiing, kite surfing and amusement parks. Below the waves, the weapons eroded.

Some of us anticipated to see a desert, with no organisms because it was all contaminated, says the lead researcher.

When the initial researchers went investigating to see what they were doing to the ecosystem, researchers expected to see a lifeless zone, with no life because it was all toxic, states the lead researcher.

What they observed astonished them. Vedenin recounts his team members reacting with shock when the underwater vehicle first sent the images back. This was a remarkable experience, he says.

Numerous of ocean life had settled on the weapons, developing a regenerated habitat denser than the sea floor around it.

This marine city was testament to the resilience of marine life. Truly surprising how much life we observe in locations that are considered toxic and harmful, he states.

More than 40 starfish had gathered on to one exposed piece of explosive material. They were dwelling on metal shells, fuse pockets and transport cases just centimetres from its explosive filling. Marine fish, crustaceans, sea anemones and mussels were all found on the historic weapons. You could compare it with a marine reef in terms of the abundance of creatures that was inhabiting the area, notes Vedenin.

Surprising Creature Concentration

An mean of more than 40,000 organisms were residing on every meter squared of the weapons, scientists documented in their study on the discovery. The adjacent region was much less diverse, with only 8,000 organisms on every meter squared.

It is ironic that things that are designed to destroy everything are attracting so much life, states Vedenin. You can see how the natural world adapts after a major disaster such as the World War II and how, in certain respects, life establishes itself to the most risky places.

Artificial Structures as Ocean Environments

Man-made structures such as sunken vessels, wind turbines, drilling platforms and pipelines can create alternatives, replacing some of the removed habitat. This study shows that explosives could be equally beneficial – the proliferation of life on those in the Bay of Lübeck is likely to be duplicated in different areas.

Between 1946 and 1948, 1.6m tons of munitions were discarded off the German shoreline. Thousands of workers placed them in barges; a portion were deposited in specific areas, the remainder just thrown overboard en route. This is the initial instance scientists have documented how marine life has responded.

Global Instances of Ocean Transformation

• In the US, retired energy installations have turned into marine habitats
• Sunken ships from the first world war have become environments for marine life along the Potomac in Maryland
• Military vehicle parts that have become environment to coral off Asan in Guam

These places become even more crucial for wildlife as the oceans are increasingly stripped by fishing, seafloor dredging and anchoring. Sunken ships and explosive disposal locations essentially act as protected areas – they are not official reserves, but nearly any kind of anthropogenic disturbance is prohibited, says Vedenin. Consequently a lot of species that are otherwise rare or diminishing, such as the Baltic cod, are prospering.

Coming Issues

Wherever warfare has occurred in the recent history, nearby oceans are typically littered with explosives, states Vedenin. Millions of tonnes of volatile compounds remain in our seas.

The sites of these weapons are inadequately recorded, partially because of sovereign limits, secret armed forces records and the fact that records are hidden in historical records. They present an detonation and security risk, as well as risk from the continuous leakage of hazardous substances.

As the German government and different states start removing these remains, experts hope to preserve the marine communities that have formed in their vicinity. In the Bay of Lübeck munitions are already being removed.

We should substitute these metal carcasses left from munitions with certain less dangerous, various harmless materials, like maybe concrete structures, says Vedenin.

He presently wishes that what happens in the Bay of Lübeck establishes a precedent for substituting habitats after munitions removal in other locations – because even the most harmful armaments can become framework for ocean ecosystems.