World War II Bombs, Torpedo Heads and Naval Mines: How Ocean Creatures Flourishes on Dumped Armaments

In the slightly salty sea off the German shoreline sits a wasteland of World War II explosives, torpedo heads and naval mines. Discarded from vessels at the conclusion of the second world war and left behind, numerous munitions have become matted together over the years. They create a rusting layer on the low-depth, silty ocean floor of the Bay of Lübeck in the western tip of the Baltic Sea.

Over the years, the Nazi arsenal was overlooked and forgotten about. A growing number of tourists flocked to the coastal areas and tranquil sea for jetskiing, kiteboarding and amusement parks. Beneath the surface, the munitions deteriorated.

Some of us anticipated to see a lifeless zone, with no organisms because it was all contaminated, says the lead researcher.

When the initial researchers went looking to see what they were doing to the ecosystem, researchers thought they would find a desert, with nothing living there because it was all contaminated, says Andrey Vedenin.

What they discovered surprised them. Vedenin remembers his team members reacting with shock when the ROV first relayed pictures. This was a remarkable experience, he recalls.

Thousands of sea creatures had made their homes among the weapons, creating a renewed habitat richer than the ocean bottom nearby.

This ocean community was proof to the tenacity of marine life. Truly astonishing how much life we find in areas that are supposed to be toxic and dangerous, he explains.

In excess of 40 starfish had clustered on to one accessible piece of explosive material. They were residing on metal shells, ignition chambers and storage boxes just a short distance from its dangerous content. Marine fish, crustaceans, sea anemones and bivalves were all found on the discarded explosives. You could compare it with a marine reef in terms of the abundance of creatures that was there, states Vedenin.

Surprising Population Density

An mean of more than 40,000 animals were dwelling on every meter squared of the explosives, scientists documented in their research on the observation. The nearby seabed was much sparser, with only eight thousand creatures on every square metre.

It is paradoxical that objects that are intended to kill all life are attracting so much marine organisms, states Vedenin. One can observe how nature adapts after a devastating occurrence such as the World War II and how, in some way, marine life establishes itself to the most dangerous locations.

Artificial Structures as Marine Habitats

Artificial structures such as sunken vessels, wind turbines, drilling platforms and undersea pipes can offer alternatives, compensating for some of the removed marine environment. This study shows that weapons could be comparably beneficial – the explosion of life on those in the Lübeck Bay is probable to be duplicated elsewhere.

Between the late 1940s and 1948, 1.6 million tons of weapons were disposed of off the German shoreline. Thousands of individuals loaded them in barges; a portion were placed in designated locations, the remainder just discarded at sea while traveling. This is the first time researchers have studied how marine life has adapted.

Global Instances of Marine Transformation

• In the US, retired oil and gas structures have transformed into reef ecosystems
• Sunken ships from the World War I have become habitats for marine life along the Potomac River in the state of Maryland
• Military vehicle parts that have become habitat to reef-building organisms off Asan beach in the Pacific island

These locations become even more valuable for marine life as the oceans are increasingly stripped by fishing, seafloor dredging and anchoring. Shipwrecks and weapons dump sites essentially function as sanctuaries – they are not official reserves, but nearly any kind of anthropogenic disturbance is banned, states Vedenin. Consequently a many of species that are typically uncommon or decreasing, such as the cod fish, are thriving.

Future Factors

Wherever armed conflict has occurred in the last century, nearby oceans are usually strewn with weapons, states Vedenin. Many millions of tonnes of dangerous substances remain in our oceans.

The positions of these weapons are insufficiently documented, partially because of international boundaries, classified military information and the fact that documents are buried in old files. They pose an detonation and security danger, as well as danger from the persistent release of hazardous substances.

As Germany and different states embark on removing these remains, experts plan to safeguard the ecosystems that have established nearby. In the Bay of Lübeck weapons are already being extracted.

We should substitute these steel remains remaining from munitions with certain safer, some non-dangerous structures, like possibly concrete structures, states Vedenin.

He now aspires that what happens in Lübeck sets a example for replacing habitats after munitions removal in different areas – because including the most destructive armaments can become scaffolding for marine organisms.