World War II Explosives, Torpedoes and Naval Mines: How Marine Life Thrives on Abandoned Weapons

In the slightly salty sea off the German coast rests a wasteland of World War II explosives, torpedo heads and mines. Thrown off barges at the conclusion of the second world war and neglected, countless explosives have become matted together over the decades. They form a decaying layer on the shallow, silty ocean floor of the Lübeck Bay in the western part of the Baltic Sea.

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, kiteboarding and amusement parks. Below the waves, the munitions deteriorated.

Some of us expected to see a barren area, with no life because it was all toxic, explains the lead researcher.

When the first scientists went investigating to see what they were affecting to the marine environment, researchers anticipated finding a lifeless zone, with no life because it was all toxic, says the lead researcher.

What they observed amazed them. Vedenin remembers his scientists shouting with surprise when the ROV first sent the images back. This was a memorable occasion, he notes.

Numerous of sea creatures had established habitats on the munitions, forming a regenerated habitat more populous than the seabed nearby.

This underwater metropolis was testament to the resilience of life. It is actually remarkable how much marine organisms we discover in places that are considered hazardous and harmful, he states.

In excess of 40 starfish had clustered on to one accessible fragment of TNT. They were living on iron containers, fuse pockets and storage boxes just centimetres from its volatile core. Fish, crustaceans, anemones and bivalves were all observed on the old munitions. You could compare it with a coral reef in terms of the abundance of creatures that was inhabiting the area, says Vedenin.

Remarkable Creature Concentration

An mean of more than 40,000 creatures were residing on every square metre of the weapons, scientists documented in their research on the finding. The surrounding area was much less diverse, with only eight thousand creatures on every square metre.

It is paradoxical that objects that are intended to eliminate everything are drawing so much life, explains Vedenin. One can observe how the natural world evolves after a catastrophic event such as the World War II and how, in certain respects, marine life establishes itself to the most dangerous places.

Artificial Structures as Ocean Environments

Artificial features such as sunken vessels, offshore windfarms, drilling platforms and undersea pipes can provide alternatives, restoring some of the removed marine environment. This research shows that weapons could be comparably positive – the explosion of marine organisms on those in the Bay of Lübeck is probable to be repeated in different areas.

Between the late 1940s and 1948, 1.6 million tons of weapons were disposed of off the Germany's coast. Thousands of people transported them in vessels; some were dropped in allocated sites, the remainder just dumped during transport. This is the initial instance experts have recorded how marine life has responded.

Global Instances of Marine Transformation

• In the United States, retired energy installations have become reef ecosystems
• Submerged vessels from the World War I have become homes for marine life along the Potomac River in the state of Maryland
• Tank tracks that have become home to coral off Asan beach in the Pacific island

These places become even more crucial for marine life as the marine environments are increasingly stripped by fishing, bottom trawling and anchoring. Sunken ships and munitions areas effectively serve as protected areas – they are not official reserves, but almost any kind of human activity is prohibited, says Vedenin. Consequently a lot of marine species that are usually rare or diminishing, such as the cod fish, are flourishing.

Coming Considerations

Wherever armed conflict has happened in the past 100 years, surrounding seas are usually containing munitions, says Vedenin. Millions of tons of explosive material remain in our oceans.

The sites of these explosives are inadequately documented, partially because of international boundaries, classified military information and the fact that archives are hidden in historical records. They create an explosion and safety danger, as well as risk from the ongoing release of poisonous compounds.

As the German government and other countries begin extracting these relics, researchers aim to preserve the habitats that have formed in their vicinity. In the Bay of Lübeck explosives are currently being cleared.

It would be wise to substitute these iron structures originating from munitions with some safer, various safe objects, like possibly man-made habitats, suggests Vedenin.

He currently aspires that what occurs in Lübeck establishes a model for substituting material after munitions removal in different areas – because even the most damaging armaments can become foundation for new life.