World War II Bombs, Torpedoes and Naval Mines: The Way Marine Life Flourishes on Abandoned Weapons

In the slightly salty sea off the Germany's shoreline sits a collection of World War II explosives, torpedo heads and naval mines. Thrown off boats at the end of the World War II and neglected, thousands munitions have accumulated over the decades. They form a decaying blanket on the low-depth, silty ocean floor of the Bay of Lübeck in the western part of the Baltic.

Over the decades, the wartime weapons was ignored and forgotten about. A growing number of visitors came to the coastal areas and calm waters for jetskiing, kite surfing and entertainment venues. Underwater, the weapons deteriorated.

Researchers expected to see a barren area, with no organisms because it was all toxic, explains the lead researcher.

When the team went investigating to see what they were doing to the marine environment, some of us expected to see a desert, with nothing living there because it was all contaminated, explains the lead researcher.

What they discovered astonished them. Vedenin recalls his colleagues shouting with surprise when the underwater vehicle first relayed pictures. It was a memorable occasion, he notes.

Thousands of ocean life had established habitats on the weapons, forming a renewed ecosystem denser than the seabed nearby.

This ocean community was testament to the resilience of life. It is actually surprising how much life we discover in places that are considered dangerous and harmful, he says.

Over 40 starfish had piled on to one exposed chunk of TNT. They were living on steel casings, detonator compartments and carrying containers just centimetres from its explosive filling. Marine fish, crabs, sea anemones and mussels were all discovered on the old munitions. It's similar to a reef ecosystem in terms of the amount of animal life that was inhabiting the area, notes Vedenin.

Surprising Population Density

An mean of more than forty thousand creatures were residing on every square metre of the explosives, experts reported in their study on the discovery. The surrounding area was much sparser, with only eight thousand individuals on every meter squared.

It is surprising that objects that are designed to eliminate all life are drawing so much marine organisms, says Vedenin. It's evident how the natural world evolves after a devastating occurrence such as the second world war and how, in some way, life establishes itself to the most dangerous areas.

Artificial Structures as Ocean Habitats

Artificial constructions such as shipwrecks, wind turbines, drilling platforms and undersea pipes can provide substitutes, replacing some of the destroyed marine environment. This study reveals that explosives could be comparably positive – the proliferation of marine organisms on those in the Lübeck Bay is probable to be duplicated elsewhere.

Between 1946 and 1948, 1.6m tonnes of weapons were disposed of off the Germany's coast. Numerous of people placed them in boats; some were dropped in designated sites, others just discarded at sea en route. This is the first time scientists have documented how marine life has adapted.

Global Examples of Marine Adaptation

• In the US, decommissioned oil and gas structures have turned into coral reefs
• Sunken ships from the World War I have become environments for marine life along the Potomac in Maryland
• Tank tracks that have become habitat to coral off Asan in Guam

These areas become even more valuable for organisms as the oceans are increasingly depleted by commercial fishing, seafloor dredging and boat mooring. Shipwrecks and weapons dump sites essentially serve as protected areas – they are not official reserves, but almost any kind of human activity is prohibited, says Vedenin. Consequently a numerous of species that are otherwise rare or decreasing, such as the cod fish, are prospering.

Coming Considerations

Anywhere armed conflict has occurred in the past 100 years, nearby oceans are often littered with weapons, states Vedenin. Many millions of tons of volatile compounds rest in our marine environments.

The locations of these munitions are poorly recorded, in part because of sovereign limits, secret defense data and the fact that documents are stored in old files. They present an explosion and safety hazard, as well as danger from the continuous release of toxic chemicals.

As Germany and additional nations begin clearing these relics, scientists plan to safeguard the habitats that have established around them. In the Bay of Lübeck munitions are already being removed.

It would be wise to replace these steel remains originating from munitions with certain safer, some harmless structures, like possibly man-made habitats, states Vedenin.

He currently aspires that what happens in Lübeck sets a model for substituting structures after weapon clearance elsewhere – because also the most destructive armaments can become framework for ocean ecosystems.