World War II Munitions, Torpedo Heads and Naval Mines: How Ocean Creatures Flourishes on Discarded Armaments

In the slightly salty waters off the Germany's shoreline rests a graveyard of Nazi bombs, torpedo heads and naval mines. Dumped from barges at the end of the second world war and forgotten about, countless munitions have fused into clusters over the decades. They form a rusting layer on the shallow, silty ocean floor of the Bay of Lübeck in the western tip of the Baltic.

Over the years, the explosive stockpile was ignored and forgotten about. A growing number of tourists traveled to the sandy beaches and calm waters for jetskiing, kite surfing and entertainment venues. Beneath the surface, the weapons decayed.

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

When the initial researchers went looking to see what they were affecting to the marine environment, some of us thought they would find a barren area, with no life because it was all toxic, states the lead researcher.

What they found amazed them. Vedenin recounts his scientists shouting with surprise when the underwater vehicle first relayed pictures. This was a great moment, he says.

Countless of sea creatures had established habitats on the munitions, forming a renewed ecosystem denser than the sea floor nearby.

This underwater metropolis was testament to the tenacity of life. Truly surprising how much life we observe in locations that are expected to be toxic and risky, he states.

More than 40 starfish had clustered on to one exposed chunk of explosive material. They were living on steel casings, detonator compartments and carrying containers just a short distance from its explosive filling. Fish, crabs, sea anemones and mussels were all observed on the discarded explosives. It's similar to a marine reef in terms of the quantity of creatures that was there, says Vedenin.

Surprising Creature Concentration

An average of more than forty thousand creatures were living on every square metre of the weapons, scientists reported in their paper on the discovery. The surrounding area was much poorer in life, with only 8,000 organisms on every meter squared.

It is surprising that things that are intended to destroy all life are drawing so much life, says Vedenin. You can see how nature adjusts after a devastating occurrence such as the World War II and how, in some way, life finds its way to the most risky locations.

Man-made Structures as Ocean Environments

Artificial constructions such as shipwrecks, offshore windfarms, drilling platforms and undersea pipes can offer alternatives, compensating for some of the removed marine environment. This research demonstrates that explosives could be equally beneficial – the proliferation of marine organisms on those in the Lübeck Bay is expected to be repeated elsewhere.

Between 1946 and 1948, 1.6m tonnes of arms were discarded off the Germany's shoreline. Countless of people loaded them in barges; a portion were placed in allocated sites, the remainder just discarded at sea while traveling. This is the initial instance researchers have recorded how marine life has reacted.

Worldwide Instances of Marine Transformation

• In the United States, retired drilling platforms have turned into reef ecosystems
• Sunken ships from the first world war have become homes for creatures along the Potomac in Maryland
• Tank tracks that have become environment to coral off Asan beach in the Pacific island

These areas become even more valuable for marine life as the oceans are increasingly stripped by commercial fishing, seafloor dredging and boat mooring. Sunken ships and weapons dump sites practically function as protected areas – they are not official reserves, but virtually 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 flourishing.

Future Issues

Anywhere warfare has occurred in the last century, nearby oceans are typically containing munitions, explains Vedenin. Many millions of tons of explosive material remain in our seas.

The sites of these weapons are poorly recorded, partially because of national borders, classified armed forces records and the reality that records are hidden in old files. They pose an explosion and security risk, as well as risk from the continuous emission of poisonous compounds.

As the German government and other countries start clearing these remains, experts hope to safeguard the marine communities that have formed around them. In the Lübeck Bay explosives are already being removed.

Researchers recommend replace these iron structures left from weapons with some less dangerous, various non-dangerous structures, like maybe concrete structures, states Vedenin.

He presently hopes that what transpires in Lübeck sets a example for substituting material after munitions removal in different areas – because even the most destructive explosives can become framework for new life.