World War II Munitions, Torpedo Heads and Mines: How Ocean Creatures Prosper on Discarded Weapons

In the brackish waters off the Germany's coast lies a graveyard of World War II explosives, torpedoes and mines. Thrown off vessels at the conclusion of the World War II and forgotten about, numerous munitions have become matted together over the years. They comprise a decaying carpet on the shallow, muddy ocean floor of the Bay of Lübeck in the western part of the Baltic.

Over the decades, the Nazi arsenal was overlooked and forgotten about. A growing number of visitors traveled to the sandy beaches and tranquil sea for jetskiing, kiteboarding and amusement parks. Underwater, the munitions decayed.

Researchers expected to see a barren area, with no organisms because it was all contaminated, says Andrey Vedenin.

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

What they found surprised them. Vedenin recalls his team members exclaiming in amazement when the submersible first relayed pictures. This was a remarkable experience, he says.

Countless of sea creatures had established habitats among the weapons, forming a renewed marine community richer than the ocean bottom around it.

This underwater metropolis was evidence to the resilience of life. Truly astonishing how much life we observe in areas that are supposed to be dangerous and harmful, he says.

More than 40 sea stars had clustered on to one visible piece of TNT. They were dwelling on metal shells, fuse pockets and storage boxes just a short distance from its explosive filling. Marine fish, crabs, anemones and bivalves were all observed on the old munitions. You could compare it with a coral reef in terms of the amount of fauna that was there, notes Vedenin.

Unexpected Creature Concentration

An mean of more than 40,000 organisms were residing on every meter squared of the weapons, experts documented in their research on the observation. The nearby seabed was much poorer in life, with only 8,000 creatures on every square metre.

It is surprising that things that are intended to eliminate everything are attracting so much life, states Vedenin. One can observe how the natural world evolves after a catastrophic event such as the second world war and how, in some way, marine life establishes itself to the most risky areas.

Artificial Features as Ocean Habitats

Artificial structures such as sunken vessels, offshore windfarms, oil rigs and undersea pipes can create substitutes, compensating for some of the removed habitat. This study reveals that explosives could be comparably positive – the explosion of marine organisms on those in the Lübeck Bay is likely to be repeated in different areas.

Between the late 1940s and the post-war period, 1.6m tons of arms were discarded off the German coast. Numerous of workers loaded them in barges; some were deposited in designated locations, the remainder just discarded at sea during transport. This is the initial instance researchers have recorded how ocean organisms has reacted.

Worldwide Examples of Marine Adaptation

• In the United States, retired drilling platforms have turned into reef ecosystems
• Submerged vessels from the World War I have become environments for creatures along the Potomac River in Maryland
• Tank tracks that have become habitat to coral off Asan in the Pacific island

These locations become even more crucial for organisms as the marine environments are increasingly stripped by fishing, bottom trawling and anchoring. Sunken ships and explosive disposal locations practically function as protected areas – they are not official reserves, but almost any kind of anthropogenic disturbance is prohibited, says Vedenin. Therefore a many of organisms that are usually rare or decreasing, such as the Baltic cod, are prospering.

Coming Issues

Anywhere armed conflict has happened in the past 100 years, surrounding seas are often containing explosives, states Vedenin. Many millions of tonnes of volatile compounds rest in our seas.

The positions of these weapons are insufficiently mapped, partly because of international boundaries, secret armed forces records and the fact that archives are buried in historical records. They create an explosion and security danger, as well as danger from the ongoing leakage of hazardous substances.

As the German government and other countries begin removing these artifacts, experts aim to safeguard the habitats that have formed nearby. In the Lübeck Bay explosives are presently being extracted.

We should substitute these iron structures left from munitions with some more secure, some safe structures, like possibly man-made habitats, states Vedenin.

He presently aspires that what happens in the Bay of Lübeck establishes a model for replacing habitats after munitions removal elsewhere – because including the most destructive armaments can become foundation for marine organisms.