World War II Bombs, Torpedoes and Naval Mines: How Ocean Creatures Thrives on Dumped Weapons

In the slightly salty sea off the German coast lies a wasteland of World War II explosives, torpedo heads and mines. Discarded from barges at the end of the World War II and neglected, thousands weapons have accumulated over the years. They comprise a rusting carpet on the low-depth, silty ocean floor of the Lübeck Bay in the western part of the Baltic Sea.

Over the decades, the wartime weapons was overlooked and forgotten about. A growing number of tourists flocked to the coastal areas and calm waters for jetskiing, kiteboarding and amusement parks. Underwater, the munitions eroded.

Some of us expected to see a desert, with no life because it was all contaminated, states the lead researcher.

When the initial researchers went searching to see what they were doing to the marine environment, some of us expected to see a barren area, with no life because it was all poisoned, says the lead researcher.

What they observed surprised them. Vedenin recounts his scientists reacting with shock when the underwater vehicle first sent the images back. This was a remarkable experience, he recalls.

Countless of marine animals had settled amid the explosives, creating a revitalized ecosystem denser than the ocean bottom around it.

This ocean community was proof to the persistence of life. It is actually remarkable how much life we discover in areas that are expected to be dangerous and risky, he says.

Over 40 starfish had piled on to one exposed fragment of explosive material. They were residing on metal shells, detonator compartments and storage boxes just centimetres from its volatile core. Marine fish, crustaceans, anemones and bivalves were all found on the discarded explosives. It resembles a coral reef in terms of the amount of animal life that was there, notes Vedenin.

Unexpected Creature Concentration

An average of more than 40,000 animals were living on every meter squared of the munitions, experts documented in their study on the observation. The nearby seabed was much less diverse, with only 8,000 individuals on every square metre.

It is ironic that things that are meant to kill all life are hosting so much marine organisms, states Vedenin. One can observe how the natural world adapts after a devastating occurrence such as the second world war and how, in some way, marine life returns to the most risky places.

Man-made Features as Ocean Habitats

Man-made structures such as shipwrecks, offshore windfarms, drilling platforms and pipelines can offer substitutes, replacing some of the destroyed marine environment. This study reveals that munitions could be equally beneficial – the proliferation of marine organisms on those in the Lübeck Bay is likely to be found elsewhere.

Between the late 1940s and 1948, 1.6m tonnes of munitions were discarded off the German shoreline. Thousands of individuals transported them in barges; a portion were deposited in designated sites, the remainder just thrown overboard during transport. This is the initial instance experts have recorded how marine life has adapted.

Global Instances of Marine Transformation

• In the US, retired oil and gas structures have turned into coral reefs
• Submerged vessels from the World War I have become habitats for creatures along the Potomac River in Maryland
• Military vehicle parts that have become environment to coral off Asan in Guam

These locations become even more important for organisms as the oceans are increasingly denuded by commercial fishing, bottom trawling and anchoring. Shipwrecks and weapons dump sites practically serve as protected areas – they are not official reserves, but nearly any kind of human activity is banned, says Vedenin. As a result a numerous of organisms that are otherwise scarce or diminishing, such as the Baltic cod, are prospering.

Coming Considerations

Anywhere warfare has occurred in the recent history, nearby oceans are typically littered with explosives, says Vedenin. Millions of tonnes of explosive material rest in our marine environments.

The positions of these munitions are poorly recorded, in part because of sovereign limits, restricted defense data and the situation that archives are stored in historical records. They create an detonation and security risk, as well as risk from the persistent emission of poisonous compounds.

As the German government and different states begin extracting these relics, experts hope to protect the marine communities that have developed around them. In the Lübeck Bay munitions are presently being extracted.

Researchers recommend replace these metal carcasses left from weapons with some more secure, various harmless objects, like possibly artificial reefs, states Vedenin.

He now aspires that what happens in Lübeck sets a example for substituting material after explosive extraction in different areas – because including the most harmful weaponry can become framework for marine organisms.