World War II Explosives, Torpedo Heads and Naval Mines: How Marine Life Flourishes on Discarded Weapons

In the brackish waters off the German coast lies a collection of Nazi bombs, torpedo heads and naval mines. Discarded from boats at the end of the second world war and neglected, numerous explosives have fused into clusters over the years. They create a rusting carpet on the low-depth, silty seafloor of the Lübeck Bay in the western tip of the Baltic.

Over the decades, the explosive stockpile was overlooked and neglected. A growing number of tourists came to the sandy beaches and calm waters for water sports, kite surfing and entertainment venues. Below the waves, the weapons eroded.

We initially thought to see a lifeless zone, with no organisms because it was all poisoned, explains Andrey Vedenin.

When the team went searching to see what they were affecting to the marine environment, researchers thought they would find a desert, with nothing living there because it was all poisoned, says the lead researcher.

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

Countless of ocean life had made their homes among the weapons, forming a regenerated habitat more populous than the ocean bottom surrounding it.

This underwater metropolis was testament to the tenacity of marine life. It is actually astonishing how much life we observe in locations that are considered toxic and dangerous, he explains.

Over 40 starfish had gathered on to one accessible piece of explosive material. They were dwelling on metal shells, detonator compartments and transport cases just a short distance from its explosive filling. Marine fish, crabs, anemones and mussels were all discovered on the historic weapons. You could compare it with a coral reef in terms of the quantity of fauna that was there, notes Vedenin.

Remarkable Population Density

An average of more than forty thousand creatures were residing on every meter squared of the weapons, experts wrote in their research on the observation. The surrounding area was much poorer in life, with only eight thousand creatures on every meter squared.

It is paradoxical that objects that are designed to kill all life are drawing so much life, states Vedenin. You can see how the natural world evolves after a major disaster such as the second world war and how, in certain respects, marine life establishes itself to the most dangerous areas.

Artificial Features as Ocean Environments

Man-made structures such as shipwrecks, wind turbines, oil rigs and pipelines can offer alternatives, compensating for some of the lost habitat. This research demonstrates that explosives could be similarly beneficial – the bloom of life on those in the Bay of Lübeck is expected to be found elsewhere.

Between the late 1940s and 1948, 1.6 million tonnes of munitions were dumped off the Germany's shoreline. Countless of people transported them in boats; a portion were deposited in designated areas, the remainder just dumped during transport. This is the initial instance experts have studied how marine life has reacted.

Worldwide Instances of Marine Transformation

• In the United States, decommissioned oil and gas structures have become marine habitats
• Shipwrecks from the first world war have become habitats for wildlife along the Potomac River in Maryland
• Tank tracks that have become home to reef-building organisms off Asan beach in the Pacific island

These areas become even more important for wildlife as the marine environments are increasingly depleted by commercial fishing, seafloor dredging and boat mooring. Sunken ships and explosive disposal locations essentially act as sanctuaries – they are not official reserves, but almost any kind of human activity is banned, states Vedenin. As a result a lot of marine species that are typically scarce or declining, such as the cod fish, are prospering.

Coming Considerations

Anywhere armed conflict has happened in the recent history, nearby oceans are often littered with weapons, explains Vedenin. Many millions of tons of volatile compounds rest in our oceans.

The locations of these explosives are insufficiently mapped, partially because of sovereign limits, secret armed forces records and the fact that archives are buried in historic archives. They create an explosion and safety hazard, as well as threat from the ongoing release of poisonous compounds.

As the German government and different states embark on extracting these relics, experts aim to safeguard the habitats that have developed around them. In the Lübeck Bay munitions are presently being extracted.

It would be wise to substitute these iron structures left from munitions with certain safer, various non-dangerous objects, like maybe artificial reefs, suggests Vedenin.

He currently hopes that what occurs in Lübeck establishes a precedent for replacing structures after munitions removal elsewhere – because also the most harmful explosives can become foundation for marine organisms.