World War II Munitions, Torpedo Heads and Mines: The Way Ocean Creatures Thrives on Discarded Weapons

In the brackish sea off the Germany's shoreline sits a wasteland of World War II explosives, torpedoes and mines. Discarded from barges at the end of the second world war and left behind, countless weapons have accumulated over the decades. They comprise a rusting carpet on the low-depth, muddy seafloor of the Bay of Lübeck in the western tip of the Baltic.

Over the years, the explosive stockpile was overlooked and neglected. A growing number of tourists came to the sandy beaches and tranquil sea for water sports, kite surfing and entertainment venues. Below the waves, the munitions decayed.

Some of us expected to see a barren area, with no life because it was all toxic, states a scientist.

When the initial researchers went investigating to see what they were doing to the marine environment, researchers anticipated finding a lifeless zone, with nothing living there because it was all toxic, states a scientist.

What they discovered surprised them. Vedenin recounts his team members shouting with surprise when the submersible first relayed pictures. It was a great moment, he says.

Countless of sea creatures had settled amid the weapons, forming a renewed habitat richer than the ocean bottom around it.

This ocean community was evidence to the tenacity of life. Indeed surprising how much life we discover in places that are expected to be dangerous and risky, he says.

In excess of 40 starfish had piled on to one accessible chunk of TNT. They were dwelling on steel casings, detonator compartments and transport cases just a short distance from its explosive filling. Fish, crabs, sea anemones and bivalves were all found on the historic weapons. You could compare it with a marine reef in terms of the quantity of fauna that was inhabiting the area, notes Vedenin.

Remarkable Population Density

An average of more than 40,000 creatures were living on every square metre of the munitions, scientists wrote in their research on the observation. The nearby seabed was much sparser, with only 8,000 individuals on every square metre.

It is paradoxical that items that are intended to eliminate everything are hosting so much life, states Vedenin. You can see how nature evolves after a catastrophic event such as the second world war and how, in some way, marine life returns to the most risky places.

Artificial Structures as Ocean Environments

Artificial constructions such as sunken vessels, offshore windfarms, drilling platforms and undersea pipes can create replacements, compensating for some of the removed habitat. This study shows that weapons could be comparably beneficial – the bloom of life on those in the Bay of Lübeck is probable to be found elsewhere.

Between 1946 and 1948, 1.6 million tons of arms were discarded off the German shoreline. Countless of workers placed them in barges; a portion were dropped in specific locations, the remainder just thrown overboard during transport. This is the initial instance experts have studied how ocean organisms has adapted.

Worldwide Instances of Marine Adaptation

• In the US, retired oil and gas structures have turned into reef ecosystems
• Sunken ships from the first world war have become homes for wildlife along the Potomac in the state of Maryland
• Military vehicle parts that have become home to reef-building organisms off Asan in the Pacific island

These places become even more crucial for organisms as the marine environments are increasingly stripped by commercial fishing, seafloor dredging and anchoring. Sunken ships and explosive disposal locations essentially serve as refuges – they are not official reserves, but almost any kind of anthropogenic disturbance is banned, says Vedenin. Consequently a lot of organisms that are typically rare or declining, such as the Baltic cod, are thriving.

Future Factors

Anywhere military conflict has happened in the past 100 years, nearby oceans are usually strewn with munitions, says Vedenin. Millions of tons of explosive material rest in our seas.

The sites of these weapons are insufficiently documented, partially because of international boundaries, secret military information and the situation that archives are hidden in old files. They create an detonation and safety danger, as well as danger from the continuous release of poisonous compounds.

As Germany and different states embark on removing these artifacts, scientists hope to preserve the habitats that have formed in their vicinity. In the Bay of Lübeck weapons are presently being cleared.

We should replace these metal carcasses originating from munitions with certain safer, various safe objects, like maybe concrete structures, states Vedenin.

He now wishes that what happens in Lübeck sets a model for substituting structures after munitions removal in different areas – because also the most destructive weaponry can become scaffolding for marine organisms.