World War II Explosives, Torpedo Heads and Mines: The Way Ocean Creatures Prosper on Abandoned Armaments

In the brackish sea off the Germany's coast rests a collection of World War II explosives, torpedo heads and naval mines. Discarded from vessels at the end of the second world war and neglected, numerous munitions have become matted together over the decades. They form a decaying carpet on the shallow, muddy seafloor of the Lübeck Bay in the western part of the Baltic Sea.

Over the decades, the explosive stockpile was ignored and forgotten about. A growing number of visitors traveled to the coastal areas and calm waters for jetskiing, kiteboarding and amusement parks. Beneath the surface, the munitions decayed.

Researchers expected to see a desert, with nothing living there because it was all contaminated, states a scientist.

When the initial researchers went searching to see what they were doing to the ecosystem, some of us expected to see a desert, with no organisms because it was all poisoned, states Andrey Vedenin.

What they found astonished them. Vedenin recounts his team members reacting with shock when the ROV first sent the images back. It was a great moment, he says.

Thousands of marine animals had established habitats amid the weapons, creating a regenerated marine community more populous than the sea floor around it.

This underwater metropolis was proof to the persistence of life. Indeed remarkable how much marine organisms we observe in areas that are considered toxic and harmful, he explains.

In excess of 40 starfish had gathered on to one visible chunk of explosive material. They were residing on metal shells, detonator compartments and transport cases just centimetres from its dangerous content. Fish, crustaceans, anemones and mussels were all observed on the old munitions. You could compare it with a reef ecosystem in terms of the abundance of animal life that was inhabiting the area, says Vedenin.

Remarkable Population Density

An average of more than forty thousand creatures were residing on every square metre of the munitions, scientists wrote in their research on the discovery. The adjacent region was much sparser, with only 8,000 individuals on every square metre.

It is paradoxical that items that are designed to kill everything are attracting 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 establishes itself to the most hazardous places.

Artificial Structures as Marine Habitats

Man-made structures such as shipwrecks, wind turbines, oil rigs and pipelines can offer replacements, restoring some of the lost habitat. This research reveals that explosives could be similarly positive – the bloom of marine organisms on those in the Lübeck Bay is expected to be duplicated in other locations.

Between 1946 and the post-war period, 1.6 million tons of weapons were dumped off the German coast. Numerous of individuals loaded them in boats; some were dropped in specific locations, others just thrown overboard during transport. This is the first time scientists have documented how marine life has adapted.

Global Examples of Ocean Adaptation

• In the United States, retired energy installations have become marine habitats
• Sunken ships from the World War I have become homes for creatures along the Potomac River in the state of Maryland
• Military vehicle parts that have become environment to reef-building organisms off Asan in Guam

These areas become even more valuable for organisms as the oceans are increasingly denuded by fishing, seafloor dredging and boat mooring. Shipwrecks and explosive disposal locations effectively function as protected areas – they are not official reserves, but nearly any kind of human activity is banned, explains Vedenin. As a result a numerous of organisms that are typically scarce or declining, such as the Baltic cod, are prospering.

Coming Considerations

Anywhere military conflict has taken place in the recent history, adjacent waters are often littered with munitions, explains Vedenin. Many millions of tons of explosive material remain in our marine environments.

The locations of these explosives are poorly recorded, partially because of sovereign limits, classified armed forces records and the reality that archives are buried in historic archives. They create an detonation and safety risk, as well as risk from the persistent release of toxic chemicals.

As Germany and different states begin removing these remains, scientists plan to safeguard the marine communities that have developed nearby. In the Lübeck Bay explosives are presently being cleared.

We should replace these metal carcasses originating from munitions with certain less dangerous, various harmless objects, like possibly man-made habitats, states Vedenin.

He currently wishes that what occurs in the Bay of Lübeck establishes a model for replacing material after explosive extraction elsewhere – because even the most damaging explosives can become scaffolding for new life.