World War II Explosives, Torpedo Heads and Naval Mines: The Way Ocean Creatures Flourishes on Dumped Armaments

In the slightly salty waters off the German coast sits a collection of Nazi bombs, torpedo heads and naval mines. Thrown off vessels at the conclusion of the World War II and left behind, numerous weapons have fused into clusters over the years. They form a rusting carpet on the low-depth, muddy ocean floor of the Lübeck Bay in the western part of the Baltic Sea.

Over the decades, the Nazi arsenal was overlooked and forgotten about. A increasing amount of visitors traveled to the coastal areas and calm waters for water sports, kite surfing and amusement parks. Below the waves, the munitions decayed.

Researchers anticipated to see a desert, with no life because it was all poisoned, says the lead researcher.

When the initial researchers went looking to see what they were affecting to the ecosystem, the team expected to see a barren area, with no organisms because it was all poisoned, says Andrey Vedenin.

What they discovered astonished them. Vedenin recalls his colleagues exclaiming in amazement when the ROV first sent the images back. It was a remarkable experience, he notes.

Numerous of marine animals had established habitats amid the munitions, developing a revitalized habitat richer than the seabed surrounding it.

This marine city was proof to the tenacity of marine life. It is actually surprising how much marine organisms we observe in areas that are supposed to be hazardous and harmful, he says.

Over 40 sea stars had piled on to one visible piece of explosive material. They were dwelling on metal shells, detonator compartments and storage boxes just a short distance from its explosive filling. Fish, crustaceans, sea anemones and bivalves were all found on the old munitions. It's similar to a coral reef in terms of the abundance of animal life that was there, notes Vedenin.

Remarkable Creature Concentration

An average of more than 40,000 organisms were dwelling on every square metre of the munitions, experts documented in their study on the finding. The adjacent region was much sparser, with only 8,000 creatures on every meter squared.

It is paradoxical that items that are intended to eliminate everything are attracting so much life, says Vedenin. One can observe how the natural world adapts after a major disaster such as the second world war and how, in certain respects, life establishes itself to the most risky areas.

Artificial Structures as Marine Habitats

Man-made structures such as shipwrecks, offshore windfarms, drilling platforms and pipelines can create alternatives, restoring some of the lost marine environment. This investigation reveals that explosives could be equally beneficial – the explosion of marine organisms on those in the Lübeck Bay is expected to be repeated in other locations.

Between 1946 and the post-war period, 1.6m tons of arms were disposed of off the Germany's coast. Numerous of individuals loaded them in vessels; some were dropped in allocated sites, the remainder just discarded at sea during transport. This is the first time researchers have documented how marine life has reacted.

Global Instances of Ocean Adaptation

• In the United States, decommissioned energy installations have transformed into coral reefs
• Submerged vessels from the World War I have become homes for wildlife along the Potomac River in Maryland
• Military vehicle parts that have become home to reef-building organisms off Asan beach in the Pacific island

These places become even more crucial for wildlife as the oceans are increasingly denuded by commercial fishing, bottom trawling and anchoring. Shipwrecks and explosive disposal locations effectively serve as refuges – they are not official reserves, but nearly any kind of anthropogenic disturbance is banned, states Vedenin. Consequently a lot of marine species that are otherwise uncommon or diminishing, such as the Baltic cod, are thriving.

Future Factors

Wherever warfare has taken place in the last century, surrounding seas are typically containing explosives, says Vedenin. Many millions of tons of explosive material rest in our oceans.

The sites of these weapons are insufficiently mapped, partly because of national borders, secret armed forces records and the situation that archives are hidden in old files. They present an explosion and safety danger, as well as threat from the ongoing leakage of toxic chemicals.

As the German government and other countries embark on removing these remains, experts plan to safeguard the marine communities that have established in their vicinity. In the Lübeck Bay munitions are currently being extracted.

Researchers recommend substitute these metal carcasses originating from weapons with some less dangerous, some safe structures, like maybe artificial reefs, suggests Vedenin.

He currently wishes that what happens in the Bay of Lübeck establishes a model for substituting structures after explosive extraction in different areas – because including the most destructive armaments can become framework for new life.