World War II Explosives, Torpedoes and Naval Mines: The Way Ocean Creatures Prosper on Abandoned Armaments

In the brackish waters off the Germany's coast lies a wasteland of World War II explosives, torpedo heads and naval mines. Discarded from barges at the conclusion of the second world war and forgotten about, countless munitions have fused into clusters over the years. They form a rusting blanket on the low-depth, silty ocean floor of the Lübeck Bay in the western part of the Baltic.

Over the years, the Nazi arsenal was overlooked and neglected. A increasing amount of visitors came to the coastal areas and calm waters for jetskiing, kite surfing and entertainment venues. Underwater, the weapons decayed.

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

When the initial researchers went looking to see what they were doing to the marine environment, the team thought they would find a barren area, with nothing living there because it was all contaminated, says the lead researcher.

What they discovered amazed them. Vedenin remembers his colleagues reacting with shock when the ROV first relayed pictures. This was a great moment, he says.

Numerous of sea creatures had settled amid the explosives, developing a regenerated habitat more populous than the seabed surrounding it.

This underwater metropolis was proof to the tenacity of life. It is actually surprising how much life we observe in locations that are considered hazardous and harmful, he states.

Over 40 starfish had piled on to one accessible chunk of explosive material. They were residing on metal shells, detonator compartments and storage boxes just a short distance from its dangerous content. Fish, crustaceans, sea anemones and bivalves were all found on the discarded explosives. You could compare it with a reef ecosystem in terms of the amount of creatures that was present, states Vedenin.

Remarkable Creature Concentration

An mean of more than 40,000 animals were residing on every square metre of the weapons, experts reported in their study on the discovery. The nearby seabed was much sparser, with only eight thousand individuals on every square metre.

It is ironic that things that are intended to destroy everything are attracting so much marine organisms, says Vedenin. One can observe how the natural world evolves after a catastrophic event such as the second world war and how, in certain respects, life finds its way to the most hazardous places.

Man-made Features as Marine Environments

Artificial structures such as shipwrecks, wind turbines, drilling platforms and pipelines can provide substitutes, replacing some of the removed marine environment. This study reveals that weapons could be comparably advantageous – the bloom of marine organisms on those in the Bay of Lübeck is expected to be repeated in different areas.

Between the late 1940s and the post-war period, 1.6m tons of weapons were disposed of off the German coast. Thousands of people loaded them in barges; some were deposited in specific locations, others just thrown overboard en route. This is the first time researchers have studied how marine life has adapted.

Global Instances of Ocean Transformation

• In the US, decommissioned oil and gas structures have become coral reefs
• Submerged vessels from the first world war have become environments for marine life along the Potomac in Maryland
• Military vehicle parts that have become environment to reef-building organisms off Asan in the Pacific island

These places become even more important for marine life as the oceans are increasingly depleted by fishing, seafloor dredging and boat mooring. Sunken ships and explosive disposal locations effectively function as sanctuaries – they are not official reserves, but nearly any kind of human activity is banned, says Vedenin. Therefore a many of marine species that are usually rare or declining, such as the cod fish, are thriving.

Coming Considerations

Anywhere warfare has taken place in the recent history, nearby oceans are typically containing explosives, states Vedenin. Millions of tonnes of explosive material remain in our marine environments.

The positions of these munitions are insufficiently documented, partly because of international boundaries, classified military information and the situation that documents are stored in old files. They pose an explosion and security risk, as well as risk from the persistent release of poisonous compounds.

As Germany and additional nations embark on extracting these artifacts, researchers plan to preserve the marine communities that have formed in their vicinity. In the Lübeck Bay munitions are presently being extracted.

It would be wise to substitute these steel remains left from weapons with some safer, various non-dangerous objects, like possibly man-made habitats, states Vedenin.

He presently aspires that what occurs in Lübeck creates a precedent for replacing habitats after munitions removal in other locations – because also the most damaging weaponry can become framework for ocean ecosystems.