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

In the slightly salty waters off the German coast lies a graveyard of World War II explosives, torpedoes and naval mines. Thrown off vessels at the conclusion of the second world war and neglected, numerous explosives have become matted together over the years. They comprise a decaying blanket on the shallow, silty ocean floor of the Lübeck Bay in the western tip of the Baltic Sea.

Over the years, the wartime weapons was overlooked and forgotten about. A increasing amount of tourists came to the sandy beaches and calm waters for water sports, kite surfing and entertainment venues. Underwater, the weapons eroded.

Some of us thought to see a lifeless zone, with no life because it was all contaminated, explains Andrey Vedenin.

When the first scientists went searching to see what they were affecting to the marine environment, 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 remembers his colleagues shouting with surprise when the ROV first transmitted footage. It was a great moment, he notes.

Numerous of ocean life had made their homes amid the explosives, forming a renewed ecosystem denser than the seabed around it.

This underwater metropolis was evidence to the persistence of life. Truly remarkable how much marine organisms we find in places that are considered dangerous and risky, he says.

Over 40 starfish had gathered on to one exposed piece of TNT. They were dwelling on metal shells, ignition chambers and carrying containers just a short distance from its volatile core. Marine fish, crabs, sea anemones and mussels were all discovered on the discarded explosives. You could compare it with a marine reef in terms of the amount of creatures that was inhabiting the area, notes Vedenin.

Unexpected Population Density

An mean of more than forty thousand creatures were living on every meter squared of the weapons, experts reported in their paper on the observation. The adjacent region was much sparser, with only 8,000 organisms on every meter squared.

It is paradoxical that things that are designed to eliminate everything are drawing so much life, says Vedenin. You can see how nature adapts after a devastating occurrence such as the World War II and how, in certain respects, life establishes itself to the most hazardous areas.

Artificial Structures as Ocean Habitats

Artificial structures such as sunken vessels, wind turbines, oil rigs and pipelines can provide alternatives, compensating for some of the destroyed habitat. This research shows that explosives could be comparably positive – the proliferation of marine organisms on those in the Bay of Lübeck is expected to be found in other locations.

Between the late 1940s and the post-war period, 1.6m tons of arms were discarded off the German shoreline. Thousands of individuals loaded them in barges; a portion were placed in designated sites, the remainder just thrown overboard en route. This is the initial instance researchers have documented how ocean organisms has responded.

Global Examples of Marine Adaptation

• In the US, decommissioned drilling platforms have transformed into marine habitats
• Sunken ships from the first world war have become habitats for marine life along the Potomac River in Maryland
• Military vehicle parts that have become home to reef-building organisms off Asan beach in the Pacific island

These locations become even more important for marine life as the marine environments are increasingly stripped by commercial fishing, seafloor dredging and anchoring. Shipwrecks and explosive disposal locations practically act as protected areas – they are not official reserves, but nearly any kind of anthropogenic disturbance is prohibited, states Vedenin. Therefore a numerous of marine species that are typically rare or decreasing, such as the Baltic cod, are thriving.

Future Issues

Anywhere military conflict has occurred in the last century, nearby oceans are often strewn with munitions, explains Vedenin. Many millions of tons of volatile compounds lie in our oceans.

The locations of these weapons are inadequately mapped, partially because of national borders, classified defense data and the reality that archives are stored in historical records. They pose an explosion and security risk, as well as threat from the continuous leakage of poisonous compounds.

As Germany and different states embark on extracting these relics, researchers hope to safeguard the marine communities that have developed nearby. In the Lübeck Bay explosives are already being removed.

We should substitute these steel remains originating from weapons with some less dangerous, various non-dangerous structures, like perhaps man-made habitats, says Vedenin.

He presently wishes that what happens in the Bay of Lübeck sets a precedent for replacing habitats after munitions removal elsewhere – because even the most harmful weaponry can become scaffolding for ocean ecosystems.