World War II Munitions, Torpedoes and Mines: The Way Marine Life Prosper on Dumped Weapons

In the slightly salty waters off the German coast lies a wasteland of Nazi bombs, torpedoes and naval mines. Discarded from barges at the conclusion of the second world war and neglected, thousands explosives have become matted together over the years. They comprise a corroding layer on the shallow, muddy ocean floor of the Bay of Lübeck in the western tip of the Baltic Sea.

Over the decades, the wartime weapons was ignored and forgotten about. A growing number of visitors traveled to the coastal areas and calm waters for water sports, kiteboarding and amusement parks. Beneath the surface, the munitions eroded.

Some of us expected to see a barren area, with nothing living there because it was all poisoned, says a scientist.

When the first scientists went searching to see what they were affecting to the marine environment, the team thought they would find a barren area, with no life because it was all toxic, says Andrey Vedenin.

What they observed amazed them. Vedenin recalls his colleagues shouting with surprise when the submersible first sent the images back. This was a remarkable experience, he says.

Countless of sea creatures had made their homes among the weapons, developing a renewed habitat richer than the ocean bottom surrounding it.

This underwater metropolis was evidence to the persistence of life. It is actually astonishing how much life we observe in areas that are expected to be dangerous and dangerous, he says.

In excess of 40 starfish had clustered on to one accessible fragment of explosive material. They were dwelling on iron containers, ignition chambers and storage boxes just a short distance from its explosive filling. Fish, crustaceans, anemones and mussels were all observed on the historic weapons. It resembles a reef ecosystem in terms of the quantity of fauna that was there, states Vedenin.

Remarkable Population Density

An average of more than forty thousand creatures were dwelling on every meter squared of the weapons, experts wrote in their paper on the observation. The adjacent region was much poorer in life, with only eight thousand creatures on every square metre.

It is paradoxical that items that are designed to eliminate all life are attracting so much life, explains Vedenin. You can see how the natural world adapts after a major disaster such as the World War II and how, in some way, marine life establishes itself to the most dangerous areas.

Artificial Features as Ocean Environments

Man-made constructions such as shipwrecks, wind turbines, oil rigs and undersea pipes can offer replacements, replacing some of the removed marine environment. This research demonstrates that weapons could be similarly positive – the proliferation of life on those in the Lübeck Bay is likely to be duplicated elsewhere.

Between the late 1940s and the post-war period, 1.6m tons of arms were disposed of off the Germany's coast. Countless of individuals placed them in barges; a portion were dropped in allocated locations, the remainder just discarded at sea while traveling. This is the first time experts have studied how marine life has adapted.

Global Examples of Marine Transformation

• In the US, decommissioned oil and gas structures have turned into marine habitats
• Sunken ships from the World War I have become environments for marine life along the Potomac River in the state of Maryland
• Military vehicle parts 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 depleted by fishing, bottom trawling and boat mooring. Sunken ships and munitions areas practically act as refuges – they are not national parks, but nearly any kind of anthropogenic disturbance is banned, explains Vedenin. Therefore a numerous of organisms that are typically uncommon or diminishing, such as the cod fish, are thriving.

Future Issues

Anywhere military conflict has taken place in the recent history, surrounding seas are often containing munitions, explains Vedenin. Millions of tons of volatile compounds rest in our seas.

The sites of these weapons are poorly recorded, in part because of national borders, classified defense data and the fact that documents are buried in historical records. They present an explosion and safety risk, as well as threat from the ongoing leakage of toxic chemicals.

As Germany and other countries embark on extracting these relics, researchers hope to preserve the marine communities that have formed nearby. In the Bay of Lübeck munitions are presently being cleared.

Researchers recommend substitute these steel remains left from munitions with certain less dangerous, various non-dangerous structures, like possibly man-made habitats, says Vedenin.

He presently hopes that what happens in Lübeck sets a example for replacing structures after explosive extraction elsewhere – because also the most harmful weaponry can become framework for new life.