World War II Munitions, Torpedo Heads and Naval Mines: The Way Marine Life Thrives on Abandoned Weapons

In the brackish waters off the Germany's coast rests a collection of World War II explosives, torpedoes and mines. Dumped from boats at the end of the World War II and neglected, numerous munitions have accumulated over the decades. They create a rusting layer on the low-depth, muddy ocean floor of the Bay of Lübeck in the western tip of the Baltic.

Over the years, the wartime weapons was ignored and forgotten about. A growing number of visitors came to the coastal areas and tranquil sea for jetskiing, kite surfing and amusement parks. Below the waves, the munitions deteriorated.

We initially thought to see a barren area, with no life because it was all contaminated, explains a scientist.

When the first scientists went searching to see what they were doing to the ecosystem, the team anticipated finding a barren area, with no organisms because it was all poisoned, says Andrey Vedenin.

What they observed amazed them. Vedenin recalls his team members shouting with surprise when the underwater vehicle first relayed pictures. That moment was a remarkable experience, he says.

Thousands of sea creatures had made their homes among the explosives, developing a renewed ecosystem richer than the seabed nearby.

This ocean community was proof to the tenacity of life. Indeed remarkable how much marine organisms we observe in locations that are considered toxic and risky, he explains.

More than 40 starfish had piled on to one visible fragment of explosive material. They were dwelling on metal shells, detonator compartments and transport cases just a short distance from its explosive filling. Marine fish, crabs, sea anemones and bivalves were all discovered on the historic weapons. You could compare it with a coral reef in terms of the quantity of fauna that was present, says Vedenin.

Surprising Creature Concentration

An mean of more than forty thousand creatures were residing on every meter squared of the explosives, researchers documented in their research on the observation. The adjacent region was much less diverse, with only 8,000 organisms on every meter squared.

It is paradoxical that things that are intended to eliminate everything are drawing so much life, explains Vedenin. You can see how nature adapts after a catastrophic event such as the second world war and how, in some way, marine life returns to the most hazardous areas.

Artificial Features as Marine Habitats

Artificial features such as sunken vessels, offshore windfarms, drilling platforms and pipelines can offer substitutes, restoring some of the destroyed habitat. This research demonstrates that explosives could be equally advantageous – the proliferation of marine organisms on those in the Lübeck Bay is probable to be duplicated 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 individuals loaded them in boats; a portion were dropped in designated locations, the remainder just discarded at sea while traveling. This is the first time experts have documented how marine life has adapted.

Global Instances of Marine Adaptation

• In the US, decommissioned drilling platforms have turned into reef ecosystems
• Sunken ships from the World War I have become habitats for creatures along the Potomac in Maryland
• Tank tracks that have become habitat to reef-building organisms off Asan in the Pacific island

These places become even more crucial for wildlife as the seas are increasingly denuded by commercial fishing, bottom trawling and anchoring. Sunken ships and munitions areas practically serve as protected areas – they are not official reserves, but virtually any kind of anthropogenic disturbance is restricted, says Vedenin. As a result a numerous of organisms that are otherwise rare or diminishing, such as the cod fish, are flourishing.

Coming Factors

Anywhere military conflict has taken place in the recent history, surrounding seas are usually strewn with munitions, says Vedenin. Many millions of tons of dangerous substances rest in our oceans.

The locations of these explosives are insufficiently documented, in part because of national borders, secret defense data and the reality that documents are buried in historic archives. They pose an detonation and security risk, as well as threat from the continuous leakage of toxic chemicals.

As Germany and other countries start removing these remains, scientists plan to protect the habitats that have formed nearby. In the Lübeck Bay munitions are already being extracted.

Researchers recommend replace these steel remains remaining from munitions with certain more secure, various non-dangerous materials, like possibly man-made habitats, suggests Vedenin.

He now wishes that what occurs in Lübeck establishes a model for replacing structures after explosive extraction elsewhere – because also the most damaging explosives can become scaffolding for ocean ecosystems.