World War II Bombs, Torpedoes and Mines: The Way Ocean Creatures Thrives on Discarded Weapons

In the slightly salty sea off the German shoreline rests a graveyard of World War II explosives, torpedo heads and mines. Discarded from boats at the conclusion of the second world war and forgotten about, countless weapons have accumulated over the years. They comprise a rusting blanket on the shallow, muddy ocean floor of the Lübeck Bay in the western part of the Baltic Sea.

Over the years, the wartime weapons was overlooked and forgotten about. A increasing amount of visitors traveled to the coastal areas and calm waters for jetskiing, kite surfing and amusement parks. Underwater, the weapons eroded.

Some of us expected to see a lifeless zone, with nothing living there because it was all poisoned, states Andrey Vedenin.

When the initial researchers went investigating to see what they were doing to the ecosystem, the team expected to see a lifeless zone, with no organisms because it was all poisoned, explains the lead researcher.

What they discovered surprised them. Vedenin recalls his colleagues exclaiming in amazement when the submersible first transmitted footage. That moment was a great moment, he notes.

Countless of marine animals had made their homes among the explosives, developing a revitalized marine community more populous than the seabed around it.

This ocean community was testament to the persistence of life. Truly surprising how much life we find in areas that are considered dangerous and risky, he explains.

More than 40 starfish had piled on to one visible piece of TNT. They were dwelling on metal shells, detonator compartments and storage boxes just a short distance from its explosive filling. Fish, crustaceans, anemones and mussels were all observed on the discarded explosives. You could compare it with a reef ecosystem in terms of the amount of creatures that was present, says Vedenin.

Surprising Creature Concentration

An mean of more than 40,000 animals were dwelling on every square metre of the explosives, researchers wrote in their research on the finding. The nearby seabed was much less diverse, with only 8,000 creatures on every meter squared.

It is ironic that things that are designed to eliminate everything are attracting so much marine organisms, explains Vedenin. One can observe how nature adjusts after a devastating occurrence such as the second world war and how, in certain respects, marine life finds its way to the most risky places.

Man-made Features as Ocean Environments

Artificial constructions such as sunken vessels, wind turbines, oil rigs and undersea pipes can provide substitutes, restoring some of the removed habitat. This research shows that explosives could be equally beneficial – the bloom of life on those in the Bay of Lübeck is probable to be found in different areas.

Between the late 1940s and the post-war period, 1.6 million tons of munitions were discarded off the German coast. Countless of individuals placed them in boats; some were dropped in allocated locations, others just thrown overboard en route. This is the first time scientists have documented how ocean organisms has adapted.

Worldwide Instances of Marine Transformation

• In the United States, decommissioned drilling platforms have turned into reef ecosystems
• Submerged vessels from the World War I have become homes for creatures along the Potomac River in the state of Maryland
• Tank tracks that have become habitat to reef-building organisms off Asan beach in the Pacific island

These places become even more crucial for marine life as the marine environments are increasingly denuded by commercial fishing, bottom trawling and anchoring. Shipwrecks and munitions areas essentially function as protected areas – they are not national parks, but almost any kind of human activity is restricted, says Vedenin. Consequently a numerous of species that are otherwise rare or declining, such as the Baltic cod, are flourishing.

Coming Factors

Wherever warfare has taken place in the recent history, adjacent waters are often littered with explosives, says Vedenin. Many millions of tons of volatile compounds remain in our seas.

The positions of these weapons are inadequately recorded, in part because of national borders, classified defense data and the fact that archives are stored in historic archives. They create an explosion and security danger, as well as danger from the ongoing leakage of toxic chemicals.

As Germany and other countries start removing these relics, experts hope to safeguard the ecosystems that have established in their vicinity. In the Bay of Lübeck weapons are presently being removed.

Researchers recommend replace these metal carcasses remaining from munitions with certain safer, various safe structures, like possibly man-made habitats, suggests Vedenin.

He presently hopes that what transpires in Lübeck creates a precedent for replacing structures after munitions removal elsewhere – because even the most harmful armaments can become foundation for marine organisms.