World War II Explosives, Torpedoes and Naval Mines: How Marine Life Flourishes on Dumped Weapons

In the brackish sea off the German coast sits a wasteland of World War II explosives, torpedoes and naval mines. Thrown off barges at the end of the second world war and left behind, countless munitions have accumulated over the years. They form a decaying carpet on the low-depth, muddy seafloor of the Bay of Lübeck in the western part of the Baltic Sea.

Over the years, the explosive stockpile was overlooked and forgotten about. A growing number of visitors came to the coastal areas and calm waters for jetskiing, kite surfing and amusement parks. Below the waves, the munitions deteriorated.

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

When the initial researchers went investigating to see what they were affecting to the marine environment, researchers anticipated finding a barren area, with nothing living there because it was all toxic, says the lead researcher.

What they observed astonished them. Vedenin remembers his colleagues reacting with shock when the ROV first relayed pictures. That moment was a memorable occasion, he notes.

Countless of sea creatures had established habitats among the weapons, forming a renewed habitat more populous than the ocean bottom around it.

This ocean community was testament to the tenacity of life. It is actually astonishing how much marine organisms we find in locations that are expected to be toxic and dangerous, he states.

In excess of 40 sea stars had clustered on to one exposed piece of explosive material. They were dwelling on steel casings, detonator compartments and transport cases just centimetres from its volatile core. Fish, crabs, anemones and mussels were all discovered on the old munitions. You could compare it with a coral reef in terms of the abundance of fauna that was there, notes Vedenin.

Unexpected Creature Concentration

An mean of more than 40,000 creatures were residing on every meter squared of the explosives, scientists wrote in their study on the observation. The nearby seabed was much poorer in life, with only 8,000 individuals on every meter squared.

It is ironic that objects that are designed to destroy everything are drawing so much life, explains Vedenin. It's evident how the natural world adjusts after a devastating occurrence such as the World War II and how, in certain respects, life finds its way to the most hazardous places.

Artificial Structures as Ocean Environments

Man-made constructions such as shipwrecks, wind turbines, drilling platforms and pipelines can offer alternatives, compensating for some of the destroyed marine environment. This study shows that munitions could be similarly positive – the proliferation of marine organisms on those in the Bay of Lübeck is likely to be found in other locations.

Between 1946 and the post-war period, 1.6 million tonnes of munitions were dumped off the Germany's coast. Numerous of workers placed them in boats; a portion were placed in designated areas, others just discarded at sea during transport. This is the first time experts have recorded how marine life has reacted.

Global Instances of Ocean Adaptation

• In the US, retired energy installations have become reef ecosystems
• Shipwrecks from the World War I have become homes for marine life along the Potomac in Maryland
• Military vehicle parts that have become home to coral off Asan beach in the Pacific island

These areas become even more crucial for marine life as the oceans are increasingly stripped by commercial fishing, bottom trawling and anchoring. Sunken ships and explosive disposal locations practically act as protected areas – they are not national parks, but almost any kind of human activity is banned, explains Vedenin. As a result a numerous of marine species that are typically scarce or declining, such as the cod fish, are prospering.

Coming Factors

Wherever warfare has occurred in the past 100 years, adjacent waters are often littered with explosives, says Vedenin. Many millions of tons of volatile compounds lie in our seas.

The locations of these explosives are insufficiently recorded, partly because of national borders, secret defense data and the fact that documents are hidden in historic archives. They pose an detonation and security risk, as well as threat from the persistent leakage of hazardous substances.

As the German government and other countries start extracting these remains, scientists hope to safeguard the habitats that have developed nearby. In the Lübeck Bay weapons are already being extracted.

Researchers recommend substitute these metal carcasses remaining from weapons with certain more secure, various safe structures, like maybe man-made habitats, states Vedenin.

He presently aspires that what transpires in the Bay of Lübeck creates a model for replacing material after weapon clearance elsewhere – because including the most damaging explosives can become foundation for ocean ecosystems.