World War II Munitions, Torpedo Heads and Naval Mines: The Way Marine Life Prosper on Dumped Weapons

In the brackish waters off the Germany's coast sits a graveyard of World War II explosives, torpedo heads and naval mines. Discarded from vessels at the end of the World War II and neglected, thousands munitions have fused into clusters over the years. They comprise a rusting carpet on the low-depth, muddy seafloor of the Lübeck Bay in the western part of the Baltic Sea.

Over the decades, the wartime weapons was overlooked and neglected. A increasing amount of visitors traveled to the coastal areas and tranquil sea for water sports, kiteboarding and amusement parks. Underwater, the weapons decayed.

Researchers anticipated to see a barren area, with no life because it was all toxic, explains the lead researcher.

When the team went looking to see what they were affecting to the marine environment, the team expected to see a desert, with no organisms because it was all poisoned, explains Andrey Vedenin.

What they discovered astonished them. Vedenin recalls his scientists exclaiming in amazement when the ROV first transmitted footage. This was a great moment, he recalls.

Countless of marine animals had made their homes amid the weapons, developing a renewed ecosystem more populous than the seabed around it.

This marine city was proof to the tenacity of marine life. Truly remarkable how much marine organisms we find in places that are expected to be dangerous and risky, he says.

Over 40 sea stars had clustered on to one visible chunk of explosive material. They were dwelling on steel casings, detonator compartments and carrying containers just a short distance from its volatile core. Fish, crabs, sea anemones and mussels were all discovered on the discarded explosives. It resembles a coral reef in terms of the quantity of fauna that was there, states Vedenin.

Remarkable Creature Concentration

An average of more than 40,000 creatures were living on every meter squared of the munitions, experts documented in their paper on the discovery. The nearby seabed was much less diverse, with only 8,000 creatures on every square metre.

It is surprising that things that are intended to destroy all life are hosting so much marine organisms, says Vedenin. It's evident how nature adjusts after a devastating occurrence such as the second world war and how, in certain respects, marine life returns to the most risky areas.

Man-made Structures as Marine Environments

Artificial constructions such as shipwrecks, wind turbines, oil rigs and undersea pipes can offer substitutes, compensating for some of the lost marine environment. This investigation demonstrates that weapons could be similarly positive – the proliferation of marine organisms on those in the Lübeck Bay is likely to be duplicated elsewhere.

Between the late 1940s and 1948, 1.6 million tons of arms were disposed of off the Germany's shoreline. Countless of people placed them in barges; some were deposited in allocated areas, others just thrown overboard en route. This is the first time researchers have studied how ocean organisms has reacted.

Global Instances of Ocean Adaptation

• In the United States, decommissioned drilling platforms have become marine habitats
• Submerged vessels from the World War I have become habitats for creatures along the Potomac in Maryland
• Tank tracks that have become habitat to coral off Asan in Guam

These locations become even more valuable for wildlife as the oceans are increasingly depleted by fishing, bottom trawling and anchoring. Sunken ships and munitions areas effectively serve as refuges – they are not official reserves, but almost any kind of human activity is restricted, states Vedenin. Therefore a lot of species that are usually scarce or declining, such as the cod fish, are thriving.

Coming Factors

Anywhere armed conflict has happened in the past 100 years, surrounding seas are typically littered with munitions, says Vedenin. Many millions of tonnes of volatile compounds rest in our seas.

The sites of these explosives are insufficiently mapped, in part because of national borders, classified defense data and the fact that documents are hidden in old files. They present an detonation and safety hazard, as well as risk from the continuous release of hazardous substances.

As the German government and different states embark on extracting these remains, scientists hope to preserve the habitats that have established in their vicinity. In the Lübeck Bay explosives are presently being extracted.

We should replace these metal carcasses originating from weapons with some more secure, various harmless structures, like possibly man-made habitats, states Vedenin.

He presently hopes that what transpires in Lübeck sets a example for replacing habitats after munitions removal elsewhere – because including the most destructive armaments can become scaffolding for ocean ecosystems.