World War II Munitions, Torpedoes and Naval Mines: The Way Marine Life Thrives on Discarded Armaments

In the slightly salty waters off the German coast rests a graveyard of World War II explosives, torpedo heads and mines. Thrown off barges at the end of the second world war and neglected, countless munitions have accumulated over the years. They create a rusting blanket on the shallow, muddy ocean floor of the Lübeck Bay in the western part of the Baltic Sea.

Over the years, the explosive stockpile was overlooked and neglected. A growing number of visitors came to the sandy beaches and calm waters for jetskiing, kiteboarding and amusement parks. Below the waves, the munitions eroded.

We initially expected to see a lifeless zone, with no organisms because it was all toxic, says Andrey Vedenin.

When the team went looking to see what they were doing to the ecosystem, the team thought they would find a barren area, with nothing living there because it was all toxic, explains a scientist.

What they observed astonished them. Vedenin recalls his colleagues shouting with surprise when the ROV first relayed pictures. That moment was a great moment, he recalls.

Numerous of sea creatures had made their homes among the weapons, creating a regenerated ecosystem denser than the sea floor around it.

This ocean community was proof to the tenacity of marine life. Truly surprising how much life we observe in places that are considered dangerous and dangerous, he explains.

Over 40 starfish had gathered on to one accessible piece of explosive material. They were living on iron containers, fuse pockets and transport cases just centimetres from its volatile core. Marine fish, crustaceans, sea anemones and bivalves were all discovered on the old munitions. It resembles a coral reef in terms of the abundance of creatures that was inhabiting the area, notes Vedenin.

Surprising Population Density

An mean of more than 40,000 animals were residing on every meter squared of the explosives, experts reported in their paper on the discovery. The surrounding area was much poorer in life, with only eight thousand organisms on every meter squared.

It is surprising that items that are designed to kill everything are hosting so much marine organisms, says Vedenin. It's evident how the natural world evolves after a catastrophic event such as the second world war and how, in certain respects, life finds its way to the most hazardous places.

Man-made Structures as Marine Habitats

Man-made structures such as shipwrecks, offshore windfarms, oil rigs and undersea pipes can provide substitutes, replacing some of the destroyed marine environment. This research reveals that munitions could be equally beneficial – the explosion of marine organisms on those in the Bay of Lübeck is probable to be repeated elsewhere.

Between 1946 and 1948, 1.6m tonnes of weapons were disposed of off the Germany's coast. Numerous of individuals placed them in vessels; some were placed in designated sites, others just discarded at sea en route. This is the first time researchers have documented how ocean organisms has responded.

Worldwide Instances of Ocean Adaptation

• In the US, retired oil and gas structures have turned into coral reefs
• Submerged vessels from the first world war have become habitats for marine life along the Potomac in Maryland
• Tank tracks that have become home to coral off Asan beach in Guam

These places become even more valuable for wildlife as the marine environments are increasingly depleted by fishing, bottom trawling and boat mooring. Sunken ships and explosive disposal locations practically function as sanctuaries – they are not official reserves, but almost any kind of anthropogenic disturbance is prohibited, states Vedenin. Therefore a numerous of species that are usually uncommon or declining, such as the Baltic cod, are thriving.

Future Considerations

Wherever military conflict has occurred in the recent history, surrounding seas are typically containing munitions, says Vedenin. Millions of tonnes of explosive material lie in our marine environments.

The positions of these weapons are insufficiently mapped, in part because of sovereign limits, restricted armed forces records and the situation that documents are hidden in historic archives. They pose an detonation and safety risk, as well as danger from the continuous leakage of toxic chemicals.

As Germany and different states embark on clearing these remains, scientists plan to protect the marine communities that have formed around them. In the Bay of Lübeck explosives are currently being cleared.

We should replace these metal carcasses left from weapons with some less dangerous, some safe objects, like perhaps artificial reefs, suggests Vedenin.

He presently aspires that what happens in the Bay of Lübeck creates a model for substituting material after weapon clearance in different areas – because even the most destructive explosives can become foundation for new life.