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

In the brackish waters off the Germany's coast rests a collection of Nazi bombs, torpedo heads and naval mines. Dumped from barges at the end of the World War II and neglected, thousands weapons have become matted together over the decades. They create a rusting blanket on the low-depth, muddy ocean floor of the Lübeck Bay in the western tip of the Baltic.

Over the decades, the Nazi arsenal was overlooked and neglected. A increasing amount of visitors traveled to the coastal areas and tranquil sea for jetskiing, kite surfing and entertainment venues. Underwater, the weapons deteriorated.

Some of us thought to see a desert, with no life because it was all poisoned, states Andrey Vedenin.

When the first scientists went searching to see what they were affecting to the marine environment, some of us expected to see a lifeless zone, with no organisms because it was all contaminated, says the lead researcher.

What they discovered surprised them. Vedenin recalls his colleagues exclaiming in amazement when the ROV first relayed pictures. This was a remarkable experience, he recalls.

Numerous of marine animals had made their homes among the munitions, creating a regenerated ecosystem richer than the sea floor around it.

This marine city was proof to the resilience of life. Indeed astonishing how much marine organisms we observe in locations that are expected to be hazardous and risky, he says.

More than 40 starfish had clustered on to one accessible chunk of TNT. They were living on steel casings, detonator compartments and transport cases just centimetres from its dangerous content. Fish, crabs, anemones and bivalves were all discovered on the discarded explosives. It's similar to a marine reef in terms of the amount of fauna that was there, notes Vedenin.

Unexpected Creature Concentration

An average of more than 40,000 animals were living on every square metre of the explosives, researchers reported in their study on the observation. The surrounding area was much poorer in life, with only eight thousand creatures on every meter squared.

It is ironic that items that are designed to eliminate all life are hosting so much life, explains Vedenin. One can observe how nature evolves after a devastating occurrence such as the World War II and how, in certain respects, marine life returns to the most hazardous areas.

Man-made Features as Ocean Environments

Artificial features such as shipwrecks, offshore windfarms, drilling platforms and undersea pipes can provide substitutes, restoring some of the destroyed habitat. This investigation demonstrates that weapons could be similarly positive – the explosion of life on those in the Lübeck Bay is expected to be found elsewhere.

Between 1946 and the post-war period, 1.6m tons of munitions were disposed of off the Germany's shoreline. Countless of people transported them in boats; some were placed in allocated locations, others just thrown overboard during transport. This is the first time experts have recorded how marine life has adapted.

Global Examples of Ocean Transformation

• In the United States, retired oil and gas structures have turned into coral reefs
• Shipwrecks from the World War I have become environments for creatures along the Potomac River in Maryland
• Tank tracks that have become home to coral off Asan beach in the Pacific island

These areas become even more crucial for marine life as the marine environments are increasingly denuded by fishing, seafloor dredging and anchoring. Shipwrecks and explosive disposal locations essentially function as protected areas – they are not official reserves, but almost any kind of human activity is restricted, explains Vedenin. As a result a lot of organisms that are usually uncommon or diminishing, such as the cod fish, are thriving.

Coming Issues

Wherever warfare has taken place in the past 100 years, nearby oceans are often littered with weapons, explains Vedenin. Many millions of tons of dangerous substances remain in our seas.

The positions of these explosives are poorly recorded, in part because of national borders, classified defense data and the situation that documents are hidden in historic archives. They present an explosion and security hazard, as well as risk from the ongoing leakage of toxic chemicals.

As Germany and other countries begin removing these remains, researchers hope to safeguard the habitats that have established around them. In the Lübeck Bay munitions are already being extracted.

We should substitute these iron structures remaining from munitions with certain more secure, various non-dangerous structures, like possibly concrete structures, says Vedenin.

He presently hopes that what transpires in Lübeck establishes a precedent for substituting habitats after weapon clearance in different areas – because including the most damaging weaponry can become framework for ocean ecosystems.