World War II Munitions, Torpedoes and Naval Mines: How Marine Life Thrives on Dumped Armaments

In the slightly salty sea off the Germany's coast rests a graveyard of World War II explosives, torpedoes and mines. Discarded from vessels at the conclusion of the second world war and forgotten about, numerous munitions have accumulated over the decades. They create a rusting blanket on the shallow, muddy ocean floor of the Lübeck Bay in the western tip of the Baltic Sea.

Over the decades, the wartime weapons was ignored and neglected. A growing number of visitors traveled to the sandy beaches and tranquil sea for jetskiing, kiteboarding and entertainment venues. Below the waves, the munitions decayed.

We initially expected to see a barren area, with no life because it was all toxic, says Andrey Vedenin.

When the first scientists went investigating to see what they were affecting to the marine environment, the team thought they would find a barren area, with nothing living there because it was all poisoned, says a scientist.

What they discovered amazed them. Vedenin recounts his scientists shouting with surprise when the ROV first transmitted footage. It was a remarkable experience, he recalls.

Countless of marine animals had settled on the munitions, creating a revitalized marine community more populous than the ocean bottom surrounding it.

This marine city was testament to the tenacity of life. Indeed surprising how much life we discover in places that are supposed to be toxic and dangerous, he explains.

Over 40 starfish had gathered on to one exposed chunk of TNT. They were living on iron containers, ignition chambers and transport cases just a short distance from its volatile core. Fish, crustaceans, anemones and bivalves were all observed on the old munitions. You could compare it with a coral reef in terms of the amount of animal life that was inhabiting the area, notes Vedenin.

Unexpected Population Density

An average of more than forty thousand creatures were living on every square metre of the weapons, experts documented in their research on the discovery. The surrounding area was much poorer in life, with only eight thousand individuals on every square metre.

It is surprising that items that are designed to eliminate all life are hosting so much life, explains Vedenin. It's evident how the natural world evolves after a major disaster such as the second world war and how, in some way, marine life finds its way to the most dangerous locations.

Man-made Features as Ocean Environments

Artificial structures such as sunken vessels, offshore windfarms, oil rigs and undersea pipes can create alternatives, compensating for some of the destroyed habitat. This study demonstrates that explosives could be comparably advantageous – the proliferation of life on those in the Bay of Lübeck is likely to be duplicated in other locations.

Between the late 1940s and 1948, 1.6 million tons of weapons were dumped off the Germany's coast. Countless of people transported them in barges; a portion were dropped in allocated areas, the remainder just thrown overboard while traveling. This is the first time researchers have studied how marine life has reacted.

Global Examples of Ocean Adaptation

• In the US, decommissioned energy installations have turned into reef ecosystems
• Sunken ships from the World War I have become homes for creatures along the Potomac in the state of Maryland
• Tank tracks that have become environment to coral off Asan beach in the Pacific island

These areas become even more valuable for wildlife as the oceans are increasingly depleted by fishing, seafloor dredging and boat mooring. Sunken ships and munitions areas effectively function as protected areas – they are not national parks, but virtually any kind of human activity is prohibited, says Vedenin. As a result a numerous of species that are usually scarce or diminishing, such as the Baltic cod, are flourishing.

Future Issues

Anywhere warfare has taken place in the past 100 years, adjacent waters are often containing weapons, states Vedenin. Many millions of tons of volatile compounds remain in our oceans.

The locations of these explosives are insufficiently recorded, in part because of sovereign limits, secret military information and the fact that documents are stored in historical records. They pose an detonation and safety hazard, as well as threat from the continuous leakage of hazardous substances.

As Germany and additional nations begin extracting these artifacts, scientists hope to safeguard the ecosystems that have developed nearby. In the Bay of Lübeck munitions are presently being extracted.

We should replace these metal carcasses originating from munitions with certain more secure, various safe materials, like possibly man-made habitats, suggests Vedenin.

He presently aspires that what happens in Lübeck sets a model for replacing habitats after weapon clearance in other locations – because including the most damaging weaponry can become scaffolding for new life.