World War II Bombs, Torpedo Heads and Mines: How Ocean Creatures Prosper on Discarded Weapons

In the brackish waters off the Germany's coast sits a graveyard of Nazi bombs, torpedo heads and mines. Dumped from vessels at the end of the World War II and left behind, countless explosives have accumulated over the decades. They create a corroding layer on the shallow, muddy seafloor of the Bay of Lübeck in the western part of the Baltic Sea.

Over the decades, the explosive stockpile was overlooked and forgotten about. A increasing amount of tourists came to the sandy beaches and tranquil sea for jetskiing, kite surfing and entertainment venues. Below the waves, the weapons eroded.

Researchers anticipated to see a barren area, with no life because it was all contaminated, says a scientist.

When the initial researchers went searching to see what they were affecting to the marine environment, the team anticipated finding a barren area, with nothing living there because it was all contaminated, explains a scientist.

What they discovered amazed them. Vedenin recalls his team members exclaiming in amazement when the ROV first transmitted footage. It was a remarkable experience, he notes.

Numerous of sea creatures had made their homes among the explosives, forming a revitalized habitat richer than the sea floor nearby.

This marine city was proof to the resilience of marine life. Indeed surprising how much marine organisms we discover in locations that are expected to be hazardous and harmful, he says.

In excess of 40 starfish had piled on to one visible fragment of explosive material. They were dwelling on metal shells, ignition chambers and carrying containers just a short distance from its explosive filling. Fish, crabs, sea anemones and bivalves were all observed on the old munitions. You could compare it with a marine reef in terms of the amount of animal life that was inhabiting the area, states Vedenin.

Surprising Population Density

An mean of more than forty thousand organisms were residing on every square metre of the munitions, researchers documented in their research on the finding. The adjacent region was much poorer in life, with only eight thousand creatures on every meter squared.

It is ironic that items that are meant to eliminate all life are hosting so much marine organisms, says Vedenin. You can see how nature adapts after a devastating occurrence such as the second world war and how, in some way, marine life finds its way to the most dangerous places.

Man-made Features as Ocean Habitats

Man-made constructions such as sunken vessels, offshore windfarms, oil rigs and undersea pipes can create alternatives, restoring some of the lost marine environment. This study shows that weapons could be similarly advantageous – the proliferation of marine organisms on those in the Lübeck Bay is probable to be repeated in different areas.

Between 1946 and 1948, 1.6 million tonnes of munitions were disposed of off the German shoreline. Numerous of people placed them in barges; some were placed in allocated sites, the remainder just dumped during transport. This is the first time experts have recorded how ocean organisms has adapted.

Global Examples of Ocean Transformation

• In the United States, retired oil and gas structures have turned into marine habitats
• Submerged vessels from the World War I have become habitats for wildlife along the Potomac River in the state of Maryland
• Tank tracks that have become habitat to coral off Asan in Guam

These areas become even more crucial for marine life as the oceans are increasingly denuded by commercial fishing, seafloor dredging and boat mooring. Shipwrecks and weapons dump sites effectively function as refuges – they are not official reserves, but almost any kind of anthropogenic disturbance is banned, says Vedenin. Consequently a many of marine species that are otherwise scarce or diminishing, such as the cod fish, are prospering.

Future Factors

Anywhere military conflict has happened in the past 100 years, nearby oceans are usually strewn with munitions, explains Vedenin. Millions of tonnes of dangerous substances rest in our marine environments.

The sites of these weapons are poorly recorded, in part because of international boundaries, restricted military information and the reality that documents are hidden in old files. They present an explosion and safety hazard, as well as danger from the persistent release of hazardous substances.

As Germany and additional nations begin removing these remains, researchers aim to safeguard the marine communities that have established in their vicinity. In the Bay of Lübeck weapons are presently being extracted.

We should substitute these iron structures left from weapons with certain safer, some harmless structures, like possibly man-made habitats, states Vedenin.

He presently wishes that what occurs in the Bay of Lübeck sets a example for substituting material after munitions removal elsewhere – because even the most destructive explosives can become scaffolding for new life.