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

In the slightly salty sea off the Germany's shoreline rests a graveyard of Nazi bombs, torpedoes and mines. Dumped from barges at the conclusion of the second world war and neglected, thousands weapons have become matted together over the decades. They create a rusting layer on the shallow, muddy ocean floor of the Bay of Lübeck in the western tip of the Baltic Sea.

Over the decades, the Nazi arsenal was overlooked and neglected. A growing number of tourists flocked to the coastal areas and calm waters for jetskiing, kiteboarding and entertainment venues. Beneath the surface, the weapons deteriorated.

We initially expected to see a barren area, with nothing living there because it was all poisoned, says Andrey Vedenin.

When the initial researchers went investigating to see what they were affecting to the marine environment, the team anticipated finding a desert, with no organisms because it was all poisoned, states a scientist.

What they found astonished them. Vedenin recalls his team members shouting with surprise when the underwater vehicle first sent the images back. It was a great moment, he says.

Numerous of ocean life had settled amid the munitions, forming a renewed habitat richer than the seabed around it.

This underwater metropolis was evidence to the persistence of marine life. It is actually remarkable how much life we observe in places that are expected to be dangerous and harmful, he explains.

In excess of 40 starfish had clustered on to one accessible fragment of explosive material. They were dwelling on metal shells, fuse pockets and carrying containers just centimetres from its volatile core. Fish, crustaceans, anemones and mussels were all found on the historic weapons. It resembles a coral reef in terms of the amount of fauna that was inhabiting the area, notes Vedenin.

Unexpected Population Density

An mean of more than 40,000 organisms were living on every meter squared of the munitions, researchers documented in their research on the discovery. The surrounding area was much less diverse, with only 8,000 organisms on every square metre.

It is paradoxical that items that are meant to kill everything are drawing so much marine organisms, says Vedenin. It's evident how the natural world evolves after a major disaster such as the World War II and how, in certain respects, marine life returns to the most risky places.

Man-made Structures as Ocean Environments

Artificial structures such as sunken vessels, wind turbines, drilling platforms and pipelines can provide alternatives, compensating for some of the removed marine environment. This research demonstrates that explosives could be comparably positive – the explosion of life on those in the Lübeck Bay is probable to be found in different areas.

Between 1946 and the post-war period, 1.6 million tonnes of arms were dumped off the Germany's coast. Countless of people transported them in boats; some were deposited in specific locations, others just thrown overboard during transport. This is the initial instance researchers have documented how marine life has responded.

Global Instances of Ocean Transformation

• In the US, retired energy installations have become reef ecosystems
• Sunken ships from the first world war have become homes for creatures along the Potomac River in Maryland
• Military vehicle parts that have become home to reef-building organisms off Asan in the Pacific island

These areas become even more crucial for organisms as the oceans are increasingly depleted by commercial fishing, seafloor dredging and anchoring. Sunken ships and munitions areas practically function as refuges – they are not official reserves, but nearly any kind of anthropogenic disturbance is banned, states Vedenin. Therefore a lot of organisms that are usually scarce or declining, such as the cod fish, are prospering.

Coming Considerations

Wherever armed conflict has happened in the last century, surrounding seas are usually containing weapons, says Vedenin. Many millions of tons of volatile compounds remain in our marine environments.

The sites of these munitions are poorly mapped, partly because of national borders, secret military information and the reality that documents are hidden in historical records. They pose an detonation and safety danger, as well as threat from the ongoing release of hazardous substances.

As Germany and different states begin extracting these artifacts, scientists aim to preserve the marine communities that have formed nearby. In the Lübeck Bay explosives are currently being removed.

We should substitute these metal carcasses remaining from weapons with certain safer, some harmless structures, like maybe concrete structures, says Vedenin.

He presently hopes that what happens in the Bay of Lübeck sets a precedent for replacing structures after munitions removal in other locations – because even the most harmful armaments can become scaffolding for marine organisms.