World War II Bombs, Torpedo Heads and Mines: The Way Marine Life Flourishes on Dumped Armaments

In the slightly salty sea off the German shoreline rests a wasteland of World War II explosives, torpedo heads and mines. Dumped from barges at the end of the World War II and forgotten about, numerous explosives have accumulated over the decades. They form a decaying carpet on the low-depth, silty ocean floor of the Bay of Lübeck in the western part of the Baltic.

Over the years, the wartime weapons was overlooked and neglected. A growing number of tourists traveled to the coastal areas and tranquil sea for water sports, kite surfing and amusement parks. Underwater, the munitions deteriorated.

Some of us anticipated to see a desert, with nothing living there because it was all contaminated, says Andrey Vedenin.

When the initial researchers went investigating to see what they were affecting to the ecosystem, researchers expected to see a desert, with no organisms because it was all poisoned, explains the lead researcher.

What they discovered astonished them. Vedenin recalls his colleagues shouting with surprise when the submersible first relayed pictures. That moment was a remarkable experience, he says.

Thousands of ocean life had settled amid the explosives, forming a renewed ecosystem richer than the seabed nearby.

This ocean community was testament to the tenacity of marine life. It is actually surprising how much marine organisms we find in places that are expected to be hazardous and risky, he states.

In excess of 40 starfish had clustered on to one accessible chunk of explosive material. They were residing on steel casings, fuse pockets and carrying containers just centimetres from its volatile core. Fish, crabs, sea anemones and bivalves were all observed on the old munitions. It resembles a reef ecosystem in terms of the quantity of animal life that was there, notes Vedenin.

Unexpected Creature Concentration

An average of more than forty thousand organisms were residing on every square metre of the weapons, researchers reported in their research on the observation. The adjacent region was much less diverse, with only 8,000 individuals on every meter squared.

It is surprising that items that are intended to eliminate all life are hosting so much life, says Vedenin. It's evident how the natural world adjusts after a devastating occurrence such as the World War II and how, in some way, marine life finds its way to the most dangerous areas.

Artificial Features as Ocean Environments

Man-made structures such as shipwrecks, wind turbines, oil rigs and undersea pipes can provide replacements, restoring some of the removed marine environment. This research demonstrates that munitions could be similarly advantageous – the explosion of marine organisms on those in the Lübeck Bay is expected to be duplicated in different areas.

Between the late 1940s and 1948, 1.6m tons of arms were disposed of off the Germany's coast. Numerous of people loaded them in boats; some were placed in designated locations, others just discarded at sea while traveling. This is the initial instance scientists have recorded how ocean organisms has adapted.

Worldwide Instances of Marine Adaptation

• In the United States, decommissioned energy installations have transformed into marine habitats
• Shipwrecks from the World War I have become habitats for creatures along the Potomac in the state of Maryland
• Military vehicle parts that have become environment to reef-building organisms off Asan in Guam

These areas become even more valuable for marine life as the seas are increasingly depleted by commercial fishing, bottom trawling and boat mooring. Sunken ships and munitions areas effectively serve as protected areas – they are not national parks, but virtually any kind of anthropogenic disturbance is prohibited, says Vedenin. As a result a many of marine species that are usually uncommon or decreasing, such as the cod fish, are prospering.

Coming Considerations

Anywhere armed conflict has taken place in the past 100 years, surrounding seas are typically strewn with munitions, states Vedenin. Many millions of tons of explosive material rest in our oceans.

The locations of these munitions are insufficiently documented, in part because of sovereign limits, classified defense data and the reality that records are hidden in old files. They present an explosion and safety danger, as well as threat from the continuous leakage of hazardous substances.

As Germany and additional nations begin extracting these remains, researchers aim to preserve the ecosystems that have developed in their vicinity. In the Bay of Lübeck explosives are already being extracted.

It would be wise to replace these iron structures left from weapons with certain less dangerous, some harmless materials, like perhaps man-made habitats, says Vedenin.

He currently hopes that what transpires in Lübeck establishes a precedent for replacing structures after munitions removal in other locations – because also the most harmful armaments can become foundation for new life.