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

In the slightly salty waters off the Germany's coast rests a graveyard of Nazi bombs, torpedo heads and mines. Discarded from vessels at the conclusion of the World War II and neglected, countless explosives have fused into clusters over the decades. They comprise a corroding blanket on the low-depth, muddy seafloor of the Bay of Lübeck in the western tip of the Baltic Sea.

Over the decades, the Nazi arsenal was ignored and forgotten about. A increasing amount of visitors flocked to the coastal areas and calm waters for water sports, kiteboarding and entertainment venues. Beneath the surface, the munitions decayed.

Some of us expected to see a barren area, with no life because it was all poisoned, says Andrey Vedenin.

When the team went searching to see what they were doing to the marine environment, researchers thought they would find a barren area, with nothing living there because it was all toxic, explains the lead researcher.

What they found surprised them. Vedenin recalls his team members reacting with shock when the submersible first transmitted footage. That moment was a remarkable experience, he says.

Numerous of marine animals had established habitats amid the explosives, creating a regenerated ecosystem more populous than the seabed around it.

This underwater metropolis was testament to the tenacity of life. It is actually remarkable how much life we observe in locations that are supposed to be dangerous and dangerous, he explains.

More than 40 starfish had gathered on to one exposed fragment of TNT. They were dwelling on steel casings, fuse pockets and carrying containers just centimetres from its volatile core. Marine fish, crabs, anemones and bivalves were all found on the historic weapons. You could compare it with a marine reef in terms of the quantity of animal life that was present, notes Vedenin.

Unexpected Population Density

An mean of more than 40,000 organisms were living on every meter squared of the explosives, experts reported in their research on the observation. The adjacent region was much less diverse, with only eight thousand creatures on every meter squared.

It is ironic that objects that are intended to destroy all life are attracting so much life, says Vedenin. One can observe how nature adjusts after a catastrophic event such as the second world war and how, in certain respects, marine life finds its way to the most risky areas.

Artificial Structures as Marine Environments

Artificial features such as sunken vessels, wind turbines, drilling platforms and pipelines can offer replacements, restoring some of the lost habitat. This research reveals that explosives could be similarly positive – the proliferation of life on those in the Lübeck Bay is expected to be duplicated in other locations.

Between 1946 and the post-war period, 1.6 million tonnes of weapons were disposed of off the Germany's coast. Countless of people placed them in vessels; some were placed in designated areas, the remainder just thrown overboard during transport. This is the first time researchers have recorded how ocean organisms has reacted.

Global Examples of Ocean Transformation

• In the United States, retired energy installations have transformed into reef ecosystems
• Shipwrecks from the World War I have become homes for wildlife along the Potomac in the state of Maryland
• Tank tracks that have become habitat to reef-building organisms off Asan in the Pacific island

These areas become even more important for wildlife as the marine environments are increasingly stripped by fishing, bottom trawling and anchoring. Sunken ships and munitions areas practically act as sanctuaries – they are not national parks, but virtually any kind of anthropogenic disturbance is restricted, says Vedenin. Therefore a many of species that are otherwise uncommon or decreasing, such as the cod fish, are prospering.

Coming Factors

Wherever military conflict has taken place in the last century, nearby oceans are typically littered with explosives, states Vedenin. Millions of tonnes of dangerous substances lie in our marine environments.

The positions of these weapons are poorly mapped, in part because of sovereign limits, secret military information and the reality that records are hidden in historical records. They create an detonation and safety danger, as well as risk from the continuous release of toxic chemicals.

As the German government and additional nations begin removing these relics, experts hope to preserve the habitats that have established in their vicinity. In the Lübeck Bay weapons are presently being cleared.

Researchers recommend replace these iron structures left from munitions with certain more secure, some harmless structures, like possibly artificial reefs, states Vedenin.

He now hopes that what transpires in the Bay of Lübeck sets a model for substituting habitats after munitions removal elsewhere – because also the most harmful armaments can become scaffolding for marine organisms.