World War II Explosives, Torpedoes and Naval Mines: How Ocean Creatures Prosper on Dumped Armaments

In the brackish sea off the Germany's shoreline lies a graveyard of World War II explosives, torpedoes and naval mines. Dumped from boats at the end of the World War II and neglected, countless weapons have become matted together over the decades. They form a rusting layer on the shallow, muddy seafloor of the Bay of Lübeck in the western tip of the Baltic Sea.

Over the decades, the explosive stockpile was ignored and neglected. A growing number of visitors came to the sandy beaches and tranquil sea for water sports, kiteboarding and amusement parks. Underwater, the weapons eroded.

Some of us expected to see a desert, with nothing living there because it was all poisoned, explains Andrey Vedenin.

When the initial researchers went looking to see what they were affecting to the ecosystem, researchers anticipated finding a desert, with no organisms because it was all contaminated, states Andrey Vedenin.

What they discovered surprised them. Vedenin recalls his colleagues reacting with shock when the ROV first transmitted footage. That moment was a great moment, he notes.

Thousands of ocean life had established habitats amid the explosives, developing a renewed marine community denser than the sea floor nearby.

This marine city was evidence to the tenacity of marine life. It is actually surprising how much marine organisms we discover in locations that are expected to be hazardous and risky, he explains.

In excess of 40 sea stars had gathered on to one accessible chunk of TNT. They were dwelling on metal shells, detonator compartments and carrying containers just a short distance from its explosive filling. Fish, crabs, sea anemones and bivalves were all observed on the discarded explosives. It's similar to a reef ecosystem in terms of the abundance of creatures that was inhabiting the area, notes Vedenin.

Remarkable Creature Concentration

An mean of more than forty thousand creatures were dwelling on every square metre of the explosives, scientists reported in their research on the observation. The nearby seabed was much poorer in life, with only eight thousand creatures on every square metre.

It is ironic that objects that are designed to kill everything are hosting so much life, explains Vedenin. You can see how nature adjusts after a major disaster such as the second world war and how, in some way, life returns to the most risky areas.

Man-made Features as Marine Environments

Man-made structures such as sunken vessels, wind turbines, oil rigs and undersea pipes can offer substitutes, compensating for some of the lost marine environment. This study demonstrates that weapons could be equally advantageous – the proliferation of life on those in the Bay of Lübeck is probable to be repeated in other locations.

Between 1946 and the post-war period, 1.6m tons of arms were discarded off the Germany's shoreline. Countless of workers loaded them in barges; a portion were deposited in allocated locations, others just discarded at sea during transport. This is the initial instance experts have documented how ocean organisms has reacted.

Worldwide Examples of Ocean Transformation

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

These locations become even more valuable for marine life as the marine environments are increasingly stripped by commercial fishing, bottom trawling and boat mooring. Sunken ships and munitions areas essentially serve as refuges – they are not national parks, but nearly any kind of anthropogenic disturbance is prohibited, says Vedenin. Consequently a many of marine species that are typically uncommon or diminishing, such as the Baltic cod, are flourishing.

Coming Factors

Anywhere military conflict has happened in the last century, surrounding seas are usually littered with munitions, explains Vedenin. Millions of tonnes of volatile compounds rest in our marine environments.

The sites of these weapons are insufficiently mapped, partly because of national borders, restricted military information and the reality that records are hidden in historical records. They present an detonation and safety hazard, as well as risk from the persistent release of toxic chemicals.

As Germany and different states start removing these remains, scientists aim to preserve the marine communities that have formed nearby. In the Lübeck Bay explosives are currently being cleared.

It would be wise to replace these steel remains remaining from weapons with some safer, some safe objects, like perhaps artificial reefs, states Vedenin.

He now wishes that what transpires in Lübeck sets a precedent for replacing structures after explosive extraction elsewhere – because even the most destructive armaments can become framework for ocean ecosystems.