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

In the brackish waters off the German shoreline lies a graveyard of Nazi bombs, torpedo heads and naval mines. Discarded from boats at the end of the World War II and forgotten about, countless weapons have become matted together over the decades. They form a decaying blanket on the shallow, silty seafloor of the Bay of Lübeck in the western tip of the Baltic.

Over the decades, the wartime weapons was overlooked and forgotten about. A increasing amount of tourists traveled to the sandy beaches and calm waters for jetskiing, kite surfing and entertainment venues. Beneath the surface, the weapons eroded.

Some of us anticipated to see a desert, with nothing living there because it was all contaminated, says 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 no organisms because it was all poisoned, states Andrey Vedenin.

What they observed surprised them. Vedenin recalls his colleagues reacting with shock when the underwater vehicle first relayed pictures. That moment was a remarkable experience, he recalls.

Numerous of marine animals had established habitats among the explosives, creating a revitalized ecosystem denser than the ocean bottom around it.

This ocean community was evidence to the resilience of marine life. Indeed surprising how much marine organisms we discover in places that are supposed to be dangerous and risky, he states.

More than 40 starfish had piled on to one visible fragment of TNT. They were living on steel casings, fuse pockets and storage boxes just a short distance from its dangerous content. Marine fish, crustaceans, anemones and bivalves were all discovered on the discarded explosives. It's similar to a reef ecosystem in terms of the abundance of animal life that was inhabiting the area, states Vedenin.

Surprising Creature Concentration

An mean of more than 40,000 creatures were residing on every meter squared of the explosives, scientists wrote in their study on the observation. The adjacent region was much sparser, with only 8,000 individuals on every meter squared.

It is ironic that things that are meant to kill everything are attracting so much life, says Vedenin. It's evident how nature evolves after a devastating occurrence such as the second world war and how, in certain respects, marine life establishes itself to the most dangerous places.

Man-made Features as Ocean Environments

Artificial constructions such as shipwrecks, wind turbines, oil rigs and undersea pipes can create alternatives, restoring some of the lost marine environment. This study shows that explosives could be comparably positive – the bloom of marine organisms on those in the Bay of Lübeck is probable to be found in different areas.

Between the late 1940s and the post-war period, 1.6m tons of weapons were discarded off the German coast. Numerous of people transported them in barges; some were dropped in allocated sites, others just dumped en route. This is the initial instance researchers have studied how marine life has adapted.

Worldwide Examples of Marine Adaptation

• In the United States, decommissioned oil and gas structures have become coral reefs
• Shipwrecks from the World War I have become homes for creatures along the Potomac in Maryland
• Tank tracks that have become habitat to coral off Asan in the Pacific island

These areas become even more important for wildlife as the marine environments are increasingly stripped by fishing, bottom trawling and boat mooring. Sunken ships and explosive disposal locations practically function as protected areas – they are not national parks, but nearly any kind of human activity is banned, says Vedenin. Therefore a numerous of organisms that are usually uncommon or declining, such as the cod fish, are prospering.

Coming Issues

Wherever military conflict has taken place in the recent history, nearby oceans are often strewn with weapons, explains Vedenin. Many millions of tons of explosive material lie in our oceans.

The sites of these explosives are poorly documented, partly because of international boundaries, restricted armed forces records and the reality that records are stored in old files. They pose an explosion and safety danger, as well as risk from the persistent release of poisonous compounds.

As the German government and other countries start removing these artifacts, experts aim to preserve the habitats that have developed nearby. In the Bay of Lübeck munitions are already being removed.

It would be wise to replace these iron structures left from munitions with some less dangerous, various non-dangerous structures, like possibly man-made habitats, states Vedenin.

He now wishes that what happens in the Bay of Lübeck sets a model for substituting structures after explosive extraction in different areas – because also the most damaging weaponry can become scaffolding for ocean ecosystems.