World War II Bombs, Torpedoes and Naval Mines: How Marine Life Prosper on Abandoned Weapons

In the slightly salty sea off the German shoreline rests a graveyard of World War II explosives, torpedoes and naval mines. Thrown off barges at the conclusion of the second world war and forgotten about, numerous explosives have accumulated over the decades. They comprise a rusting blanket on the shallow, muddy seafloor of the Lübeck Bay in the western tip of the Baltic Sea.

Over the decades, the explosive stockpile was overlooked and neglected. A increasing amount of tourists flocked to the sandy beaches and calm waters for water sports, kiteboarding and amusement parks. Underwater, the munitions eroded.

We initially anticipated to see a barren area, with no life because it was all poisoned, states a scientist.

When the first scientists went investigating to see what they were doing to the ecosystem, researchers expected to see a barren area, with nothing living there because it was all poisoned, explains Andrey Vedenin.

What they found astonished them. Vedenin recounts his colleagues shouting with surprise when the underwater vehicle first transmitted footage. That moment was a great moment, he says.

Countless of marine animals had settled among the weapons, developing a regenerated marine community denser than the seabed nearby.

This marine city was evidence to the tenacity of marine life. It is actually remarkable how much marine organisms we find in areas that are considered hazardous and harmful, he says.

More than 40 sea stars had piled on to one accessible chunk of TNT. They were dwelling on metal shells, ignition chambers and storage boxes just centimetres from its explosive filling. Fish, crabs, anemones and mussels were all observed on the historic weapons. You could compare it with a marine reef in terms of the amount of animal life that was inhabiting the area, says Vedenin.

Unexpected Creature Concentration

An mean of more than 40,000 creatures were dwelling on every meter squared of the weapons, researchers reported in their study on the observation. The nearby seabed was much less diverse, with only 8,000 organisms on every meter squared.

It is ironic that things that are intended to destroy all life are drawing so much marine organisms, explains Vedenin. You can see how the natural world adapts after a catastrophic event such as the World War II and how, in some way, marine life returns to the most hazardous areas.

Artificial Features as Marine Habitats

Man-made constructions such as shipwrecks, wind turbines, oil rigs and pipelines can create substitutes, restoring some of the removed habitat. This study demonstrates that weapons could be comparably positive – the bloom of marine organisms on those in the Bay of Lübeck is expected to be repeated elsewhere.

Between the late 1940s and the post-war period, 1.6 million tonnes of munitions were disposed of off the German shoreline. Numerous of people loaded them in barges; some were placed in allocated areas, others just thrown overboard during transport. This is the first time scientists have recorded how ocean organisms has reacted.

Global Instances of Ocean Transformation

• In the US, retired oil and gas structures have turned into reef ecosystems
• Sunken ships 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 environment to coral off Asan in the Pacific island

These places become even more valuable for marine life as the seas are increasingly depleted by fishing, bottom trawling and anchoring. Sunken ships and explosive disposal locations essentially act as sanctuaries – they are not national parks, but virtually any kind of anthropogenic disturbance is prohibited, says Vedenin. Consequently a numerous of organisms that are usually scarce or declining, such as the Baltic cod, are prospering.

Future Considerations

Anywhere military conflict has occurred in the past 100 years, adjacent waters are typically containing munitions, states Vedenin. Millions of tons of dangerous substances lie in our oceans.

The sites of these explosives are insufficiently mapped, partially because of national borders, classified defense data and the situation that documents are hidden in old files. They present an detonation and security risk, as well as threat from the persistent release of hazardous substances.

As Germany and different states embark on extracting these remains, researchers hope to preserve the marine communities that have formed in their vicinity. In the Lübeck Bay munitions are currently being cleared.

We should replace these iron structures originating from weapons with some safer, some harmless structures, like perhaps artificial reefs, says Vedenin.

He now wishes that what occurs in the Bay of Lübeck creates a precedent for replacing material after weapon clearance elsewhere – because including the most harmful armaments can become foundation for new life.