World War II Bombs, Torpedo Heads and Naval Mines: How Marine Life Prosper on Discarded Armaments

In the brackish waters off the German coast lies a collection of Nazi bombs, torpedoes and mines. Discarded from vessels at the end of the second world war and forgotten about, numerous munitions have fused into clusters over the decades. They comprise a rusting layer on the shallow, muddy seafloor of the Lübeck Bay in the western part of the Baltic Sea.

Over the years, the wartime weapons was ignored and forgotten about. A growing number of tourists came to the sandy beaches and tranquil sea for water sports, kiteboarding and entertainment venues. Underwater, the weapons decayed.

We initially expected to see a desert, with no organisms because it was all toxic, states a scientist.

When the team went investigating to see what they were affecting to the marine environment, researchers thought they would find a desert, with nothing living there because it was all toxic, states Andrey Vedenin.

What they observed amazed them. Vedenin recalls his scientists exclaiming in amazement when the submersible first transmitted footage. This was a memorable occasion, he notes.

Thousands of sea creatures had made their homes on the munitions, developing a regenerated ecosystem denser than the sea floor surrounding it.

This marine city was testament to the resilience of marine life. It is actually astonishing how much life we discover in areas that are supposed to be dangerous and risky, he states.

Over 40 sea stars had clustered on to one accessible piece of TNT. They were residing on metal shells, fuse pockets and storage boxes just centimetres from its explosive filling. Marine fish, crabs, anemones and mussels were all discovered on the old munitions. You could compare it with a marine reef in terms of the amount of creatures that was there, notes Vedenin.

Remarkable Creature Concentration

An average of more than 40,000 organisms were living on every square metre of the weapons, researchers wrote in their paper on the finding. The surrounding area was much poorer in life, with only 8,000 individuals on every square metre.

It is ironic that things that are designed to destroy everything are drawing so much life, explains Vedenin. It's evident how nature adjusts after a catastrophic event such as the second world war and how, in certain respects, life establishes itself to the most dangerous locations.

Man-made Features as Ocean Environments

Artificial structures such as sunken vessels, offshore windfarms, drilling platforms and undersea pipes can create substitutes, replacing some of the destroyed marine environment. This investigation shows that weapons could be similarly beneficial – the proliferation of life on those in the Lübeck Bay is probable to be duplicated in other locations.

Between 1946 and 1948, 1.6m tons of arms were discarded off the Germany's coast. Countless of individuals loaded them in barges; a portion were placed in specific sites, others just dumped en route. This is the initial instance researchers have recorded how ocean organisms has adapted.

Worldwide Examples of Marine Adaptation

• In the United States, decommissioned oil and gas structures have become marine habitats
• Submerged vessels from the first world war have become habitats for creatures along the Potomac River in the state of Maryland
• Military vehicle parts that have become habitat to coral off Asan in the Pacific island

These areas become even more valuable for marine life as the oceans are increasingly depleted by commercial fishing, seafloor dredging and anchoring. Shipwrecks and munitions areas effectively function as sanctuaries – they are not official reserves, but almost any kind of human activity is restricted, explains Vedenin. As a result a numerous of species that are typically rare or declining, such as the cod fish, are flourishing.

Coming Factors

Wherever military conflict has occurred in the recent history, adjacent waters are usually containing explosives, explains Vedenin. Millions of tonnes of explosive material rest in our seas.

The sites of these weapons are insufficiently documented, partly because of national borders, classified military information and the situation that records are buried in historic archives. They pose an detonation and safety hazard, as well as danger from the persistent release of poisonous compounds.

As Germany and different states start removing these remains, scientists plan to preserve the ecosystems that have formed in their vicinity. In the Bay of Lübeck weapons are currently being extracted.

Researchers recommend replace these iron structures remaining from munitions with some safer, some non-dangerous materials, like possibly concrete structures, suggests Vedenin.

He presently aspires that what transpires in the Bay of Lübeck sets a example for replacing material after explosive extraction in different areas – because even the most destructive weaponry can become foundation for ocean ecosystems.