World War II Explosives, Torpedo Heads and Mines: The Way Ocean Creatures Prosper on Abandoned Weapons

In the brackish waters off the Germany's shoreline lies a collection of World War II explosives, torpedo heads and mines. Discarded from barges at the end of the second world war and forgotten about, thousands explosives have accumulated over the years. They create a decaying blanket on the low-depth, muddy ocean floor of the Bay of Lübeck in the western tip of the Baltic.

Over the years, the wartime weapons was ignored and neglected. A increasing amount of visitors came to the coastal areas and tranquil sea for water sports, kiteboarding and entertainment venues. Underwater, the weapons eroded.

We initially expected to see a lifeless zone, with no life because it was all poisoned, explains a scientist.

When the team went investigating to see what they were affecting to the marine environment, the team thought they would find a lifeless zone, with nothing living there because it was all contaminated, explains Andrey Vedenin.

What they observed astonished them. Vedenin remembers his team members exclaiming in amazement when the ROV first transmitted footage. It was a great moment, he says.

Numerous of sea creatures had settled amid the munitions, creating a revitalized habitat richer than the sea floor around it.

This marine city was evidence to the tenacity of life. It is actually astonishing how much marine organisms we observe in locations that are supposed to be dangerous and risky, he says.

Over 40 starfish had gathered on to one accessible chunk of TNT. They were living on metal shells, ignition chambers and transport cases just centimetres from its explosive filling. Marine fish, crabs, anemones and mussels were all observed on the old munitions. It resembles a marine reef in terms of the quantity of animal life that was there, notes Vedenin.

Surprising Creature Concentration

An mean of more than forty thousand animals were living on every meter squared of the weapons, researchers reported in their paper on the finding. The surrounding area was much poorer in life, with only eight thousand organisms on every square metre.

It is ironic that items that are meant to kill everything are drawing so much life, says Vedenin. It's evident how the natural world adapts after a catastrophic event such as the World War II and how, in some way, life finds its way to the most risky locations.

Artificial Features as Ocean Environments

Man-made features such as shipwrecks, wind turbines, oil rigs and undersea pipes can provide replacements, compensating for some of the destroyed marine environment. This investigation reveals that munitions could be comparably advantageous – the explosion of life on those in the Lübeck Bay is likely to be repeated in different areas.

Between 1946 and the post-war period, 1.6 million tonnes of arms were disposed of off the Germany's shoreline. Numerous of people loaded them in barges; some were dropped in designated sites, the remainder just discarded at sea en route. This is the first time scientists have documented how ocean organisms has responded.

Global Instances of Ocean Transformation

• In the US, decommissioned drilling platforms have become reef ecosystems
• Submerged vessels from the first world war have become homes for creatures along the Potomac River in Maryland
• Military vehicle parts that have become home to coral off Asan beach in the Pacific island

These locations become even more important for wildlife as the marine environments are increasingly depleted by commercial fishing, bottom trawling and boat mooring. Shipwrecks and explosive disposal locations essentially act as refuges – they are not official reserves, but nearly any kind of human activity is banned, states Vedenin. Therefore a numerous of organisms that are typically scarce or diminishing, such as the cod fish, are flourishing.

Future Factors

Anywhere warfare has happened in the past 100 years, nearby oceans are typically littered with munitions, states Vedenin. Millions of tons of explosive material rest in our oceans.

The locations of these munitions are insufficiently recorded, partly because of national borders, restricted armed forces records and the situation that documents are stored in old files. They create an explosion and safety hazard, as well as danger from the continuous emission of poisonous compounds.

As the German government and additional nations start clearing these remains, experts aim to preserve the marine communities that have developed in their vicinity. In the Bay of Lübeck munitions are currently being removed.

We should substitute these iron structures originating from weapons with some safer, some safe materials, like possibly concrete structures, says Vedenin.

He presently hopes that what occurs in the Bay of Lübeck sets a model for replacing material after weapon clearance in other locations – because also the most harmful weaponry can become foundation for new life.