World War II Explosives, Torpedoes and Naval Mines: How Ocean Creatures Prosper on Discarded Weapons

In the slightly salty sea off the Germany's shoreline lies a wasteland of World War II explosives, torpedoes and mines. Dumped from boats at the conclusion of the second world war and forgotten about, countless explosives have become matted together over the years. They create a corroding carpet on the shallow, muddy seafloor of the Bay of Lübeck in the western tip of the Baltic.

Over the decades, the wartime weapons was overlooked and forgotten about. A increasing amount of tourists traveled to the sandy beaches and tranquil sea for water sports, kiteboarding and entertainment venues. Below the waves, the munitions eroded.

We initially anticipated to see a desert, with no life because it was all contaminated, says Andrey Vedenin.

When the first scientists went searching to see what they were doing to the ecosystem, researchers thought they would find a desert, with nothing living there because it was all poisoned, explains Andrey Vedenin.

What they observed astonished them. Vedenin recounts his colleagues shouting with surprise when the submersible first sent the images back. It was a remarkable experience, he says.

Countless of sea creatures had established habitats among the munitions, creating a regenerated habitat denser than the ocean bottom around it.

This underwater metropolis was proof to the persistence of life. Truly astonishing how much life we observe in locations that are expected to be toxic and harmful, he states.

Over 40 sea stars had clustered on to one accessible piece of explosive material. They were residing on steel casings, ignition chambers and carrying containers just centimetres from its volatile core. Fish, crustaceans, anemones and bivalves were all discovered on the historic weapons. It's similar to a marine reef in terms of the amount of creatures that was there, says Vedenin.

Remarkable Population Density

An mean of more than 40,000 creatures were dwelling on every meter squared of the munitions, experts documented in their research on the observation. The surrounding area was much less diverse, with only eight thousand creatures on every meter squared.

It is paradoxical that things that are meant to eliminate everything are hosting so much life, says Vedenin. It's evident how the natural world adjusts after a catastrophic event such as the World War II and how, in certain respects, life returns to the most dangerous locations.

Artificial Features as Marine Habitats

Artificial structures such as shipwrecks, wind turbines, oil rigs and pipelines can create alternatives, replacing some of the removed marine environment. This study demonstrates that explosives could be comparably advantageous – the explosion of marine organisms on those in the Lübeck Bay is likely to be repeated in different areas.

Between the late 1940s and 1948, 1.6m tonnes of weapons were discarded off the German shoreline. Thousands of people transported them in boats; a portion were deposited in allocated locations, others just dumped while traveling. This is the first time researchers have documented how marine life has adapted.

Global Examples of Marine Transformation

• In the US, decommissioned oil and gas structures have transformed into marine habitats
• Sunken ships from the World War I have become homes for marine life along the Potomac River in Maryland
• Military vehicle parts that have become environment to coral off Asan in Guam

These places become even more important for wildlife as the oceans are increasingly depleted by fishing, bottom trawling and boat mooring. Shipwrecks and explosive disposal locations practically act as protected areas – they are not national parks, but virtually any kind of human activity is restricted, explains Vedenin. Consequently a numerous of species that are typically scarce or decreasing, such as the Baltic cod, are flourishing.

Coming Factors

Wherever armed conflict has happened in the past 100 years, surrounding seas are often littered with munitions, states Vedenin. Many millions of tonnes of explosive material rest in our seas.

The sites of these explosives are poorly mapped, in part because of sovereign limits, secret military information and the fact that documents are stored in historical records. They present an explosion and safety danger, as well as risk from the continuous leakage of hazardous substances.

As the German government and different states begin extracting these relics, researchers aim to safeguard the marine communities that have developed nearby. In the Lübeck Bay weapons are already being cleared.

Researchers recommend replace these iron structures remaining from munitions with some safer, some safe structures, like perhaps concrete structures, says Vedenin.

He now aspires that what happens in the Bay of Lübeck sets a model for substituting structures after munitions removal in other locations – because even the most destructive weaponry can become scaffolding for new life.