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

In the slightly salty waters off the German shoreline lies a graveyard of Nazi bombs, torpedoes and naval mines. Dumped from barges at the end of the second world war and neglected, thousands weapons have become matted together over the years. They form a corroding blanket on the shallow, muddy seafloor of the Lübeck Bay in the western tip of the Baltic Sea.

Over the decades, the explosive stockpile was ignored and forgotten about. A increasing amount of tourists flocked to the coastal areas and tranquil sea for jetskiing, kite surfing and entertainment venues. Underwater, the weapons deteriorated.

Some of us expected to see a desert, with no life because it was all toxic, says a scientist.

When the first scientists went looking to see what they were affecting to the marine environment, some of us expected to see a desert, with nothing living there because it was all toxic, says a scientist.

What they discovered surprised them. Vedenin recounts his team members reacting with shock when the ROV first relayed pictures. It was a memorable occasion, he says.

Thousands of ocean life had made their homes on the munitions, developing a renewed habitat denser than the sea floor around it.

This ocean community was evidence to the resilience of life. It is actually astonishing how much marine organisms we find in locations that are considered dangerous and dangerous, he explains.

More than 40 starfish had gathered on to one exposed piece of TNT. They were residing on metal shells, detonator compartments and storage boxes just centimetres from its dangerous content. Marine fish, crustaceans, sea anemones and bivalves were all discovered on the historic weapons. You could compare it with a coral reef in terms of the amount of fauna that was present, says Vedenin.

Unexpected Population Density

An mean of more than 40,000 creatures were living on every meter squared of the munitions, experts reported in their research on the observation. The adjacent region was much less diverse, with only eight thousand creatures on every meter squared.

It is surprising that things that are intended to eliminate all life are hosting so much marine organisms, says Vedenin. It's evident how the natural world evolves after a catastrophic event such as the World War II and how, in certain respects, life returns to the most risky locations.

Man-made Features as Ocean Habitats

Man-made structures such as sunken vessels, offshore windfarms, oil rigs and undersea pipes can create replacements, replacing some of the destroyed marine environment. This research shows that munitions could be equally positive – the explosion of marine organisms on those in the Lübeck Bay is probable to be found elsewhere.

Between 1946 and 1948, 1.6m tons of weapons were dumped off the German shoreline. Numerous of workers loaded them in vessels; some were deposited in allocated locations, others just thrown overboard during transport. This is the initial instance scientists have documented how ocean organisms has adapted.

Global Instances of Ocean Adaptation

• In the United States, retired drilling platforms have transformed into coral reefs
• Shipwrecks from the World War I have become homes for wildlife along the Potomac in the state of Maryland
• Tank tracks that have become habitat to reef-building organisms off Asan beach in the Pacific island

These places become even more valuable for marine life as the marine environments are increasingly depleted by fishing, seafloor dredging and boat mooring. Shipwrecks and explosive disposal locations essentially act as refuges – they are not official reserves, but virtually any kind of anthropogenic disturbance is restricted, says Vedenin. As a result a lot of marine species that are otherwise rare or diminishing, such as the cod fish, are prospering.

Future Considerations

Anywhere warfare has happened in the last century, adjacent waters are often strewn with explosives, says Vedenin. Many millions of tons of explosive material rest in our marine environments.

The locations of these explosives are insufficiently recorded, partially because of national borders, secret defense data and the reality that documents are stored in historic archives. They present an explosion and security hazard, as well as risk from the ongoing emission of toxic chemicals.

As the German government and different states begin clearing these artifacts, experts aim to protect the marine communities that have developed nearby. In the Lübeck Bay munitions are currently being cleared.

It would be wise to substitute these iron structures originating from munitions with some safer, some non-dangerous structures, like possibly concrete structures, suggests Vedenin.

He now wishes that what transpires in the Bay of Lübeck creates a model for replacing habitats after munitions removal in different areas – because even the most harmful armaments can become foundation for ocean ecosystems.