World War II Explosives, Torpedoes and Mines: How Marine Life Flourishes on Dumped Weapons

In the brackish sea off the German shoreline rests a collection of Nazi bombs, torpedoes and naval mines. Dumped from barges at the conclusion of the World War II and neglected, thousands explosives have fused into clusters over the decades. They create a rusting blanket on the low-depth, silty ocean floor of the Bay of Lübeck in the western part of the Baltic.

Over the years, the Nazi arsenal was overlooked and forgotten about. A increasing amount of visitors traveled to the sandy beaches and tranquil sea for water sports, kiteboarding and entertainment venues. Underwater, the munitions decayed.

Researchers anticipated to see a desert, with nothing living there because it was all contaminated, states a scientist.

When the team went investigating to see what they were doing to the ecosystem, some of us thought they would find a desert, with no life because it was all toxic, explains the lead researcher.

What they observed surprised them. Vedenin recalls his scientists reacting with shock when the underwater vehicle first sent the images back. It was a memorable occasion, he notes.

Countless of ocean life had established habitats on the munitions, creating a regenerated marine community more populous than the sea floor nearby.

This ocean community was proof to the persistence of marine life. Indeed surprising how much life we observe in places that are supposed to be dangerous and risky, he states.

In excess of 40 sea stars had gathered on to one accessible piece of explosive material. They were dwelling on steel casings, ignition chambers and transport cases just a short distance from its explosive filling. Marine fish, crabs, sea anemones and bivalves were all observed on the old munitions. It resembles a reef ecosystem in terms of the abundance of animal life that was present, states Vedenin.

Unexpected Population Density

An average of more than forty thousand organisms were living on every square metre of the munitions, researchers documented in their study on the discovery. The surrounding area was much less diverse, with only 8,000 organisms on every meter squared.

It is surprising that objects that are meant to eliminate all life are attracting so much life, explains Vedenin. You can see how the natural world adapts after a devastating occurrence such as the second world war and how, in some way, marine life establishes itself to the most risky locations.

Man-made Structures as Marine Habitats

Artificial structures such as shipwrecks, offshore windfarms, oil rigs and undersea pipes can offer alternatives, replacing some of the destroyed habitat. This study reveals that munitions could be similarly beneficial – the explosion of life on those in the Bay of Lübeck is likely to be duplicated in different areas.

Between the late 1940s and the post-war period, 1.6m tons of munitions were dumped off the German coast. Numerous of workers placed them in barges; some were dropped in allocated areas, others just dumped while traveling. This is the initial instance experts have studied how ocean organisms has adapted.

Global Instances of Marine Transformation

• In the United States, retired drilling platforms have turned into coral reefs
• Shipwrecks from the World War I have become environments for wildlife along the Potomac in Maryland
• Tank tracks that have become home to coral off Asan in the Pacific island

These places become even more valuable for marine life as the seas are increasingly denuded by commercial fishing, seafloor dredging and anchoring. Shipwrecks and explosive disposal locations essentially act as refuges – they are not official reserves, but almost any kind of human activity is banned, explains Vedenin. Therefore a lot of organisms that are usually rare or declining, such as the cod fish, are flourishing.

Coming Issues

Anywhere armed conflict has occurred in the past 100 years, adjacent waters are typically littered with weapons, states Vedenin. Many millions of tonnes of explosive material remain in our seas.

The sites of these weapons are inadequately mapped, partly because of international boundaries, classified armed forces records and the situation that documents are buried in historic archives. They pose an detonation and safety danger, as well as threat from the ongoing leakage of toxic chemicals.

As the German government and different states embark on removing these relics, scientists hope to preserve the habitats that have formed around them. In the Bay of Lübeck weapons are already being removed.

We should replace these iron structures originating from munitions with some more secure, some harmless materials, like maybe man-made habitats, says Vedenin.

He presently wishes that what transpires in the Bay of Lübeck sets a model for replacing material after weapon clearance in other locations – because even the most harmful armaments can become scaffolding for marine organisms.