World War II Explosives, Torpedoes and Mines: How Marine Life Thrives on Dumped Armaments

In the brackish waters off the German coast rests a collection of Nazi bombs, torpedoes and naval mines. Dumped from barges at the end of the second world war and left behind, countless explosives have become matted together over the years. They create a rusting blanket on the shallow, muddy seafloor of the Lübeck Bay in the western part of the Baltic Sea.

Over the decades, the wartime weapons was overlooked and neglected. A growing number of tourists came to the sandy beaches and calm waters for jetskiing, kite surfing and entertainment venues. Below the waves, the munitions decayed.

Researchers anticipated to see a barren area, with no organisms because it was all poisoned, states Andrey Vedenin.

When the team went looking to see what they were affecting to the ecosystem, researchers expected to see a desert, with no life because it was all poisoned, says a scientist.

What they observed amazed them. Vedenin recounts his colleagues reacting with shock when the underwater vehicle first sent the images back. That moment was a memorable occasion, he recalls.

Numerous of marine animals had established habitats among the explosives, developing a regenerated habitat more populous than the ocean bottom around it.

This ocean community was testament to the resilience of marine life. It is actually surprising how much life we find in places that are supposed to be dangerous and dangerous, he explains.

More than 40 sea stars had clustered on to one accessible chunk of explosive material. They were living on metal shells, fuse pockets and storage boxes just a short distance from its explosive filling. Fish, crustaceans, anemones and bivalves were all observed on the historic weapons. You could compare it with a marine reef in terms of the amount of animal life that was there, notes Vedenin.

Unexpected Creature Concentration

An mean of more than forty thousand animals were residing on every square metre of the weapons, researchers reported in their paper on the finding. The nearby seabed was much sparser, with only 8,000 organisms on every meter squared.

It is ironic that things that are meant to eliminate everything are hosting so much marine organisms, says Vedenin. One can observe how the natural world adjusts after a devastating occurrence such as the second world war and how, in some way, life establishes itself to the most hazardous locations.

Artificial Structures as Marine Habitats

Man-made structures such as sunken vessels, offshore windfarms, oil rigs and undersea pipes can provide replacements, restoring some of the lost habitat. This research reveals that explosives could be comparably beneficial – the proliferation of life on those in the Lübeck Bay is likely to be repeated elsewhere.

Between the late 1940s and 1948, 1.6 million tons of munitions were discarded off the Germany's coast. Countless of people loaded them in vessels; some were dropped in designated locations, the remainder just dumped while traveling. This is the first time researchers have documented how ocean organisms has reacted.

Worldwide Instances of Ocean Transformation

• In the United States, retired drilling platforms have transformed into reef ecosystems
• Shipwrecks from the first world war have become homes for creatures along the Potomac River in Maryland
• Military vehicle parts that have become habitat to coral off Asan beach in the Pacific island

These places become even more crucial for marine life as the marine environments are increasingly denuded by fishing, bottom trawling and boat mooring. Shipwrecks and explosive disposal locations practically act as protected areas – they are not national parks, but nearly any kind of human activity is restricted, says Vedenin. Consequently a numerous of species that are otherwise rare or decreasing, such as the cod fish, are prospering.

Future Considerations

Anywhere warfare has occurred in the recent history, nearby oceans are usually strewn with weapons, states Vedenin. Millions of tonnes of volatile compounds remain in our marine environments.

The locations of these explosives are insufficiently mapped, partly because of international boundaries, restricted armed forces records and the fact that records are stored in old files. They pose an detonation and safety danger, as well as danger from the continuous emission of toxic chemicals.

As Germany and other countries embark on clearing these artifacts, researchers aim to preserve the ecosystems that have developed nearby. In the Bay of Lübeck weapons are presently being removed.

It would be wise to replace these steel remains left from munitions with certain less dangerous, various harmless objects, like possibly artificial reefs, states Vedenin.

He now hopes that what transpires in the Bay of Lübeck establishes a example for substituting material after munitions removal elsewhere – because even the most damaging explosives can become scaffolding for marine organisms.