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

In the brackish waters off the German coast sits a graveyard of Nazi bombs, torpedo heads and naval mines. Dumped from boats at the end of the World War II and neglected, numerous weapons have become matted together over the decades. They comprise a corroding blanket on the shallow, muddy ocean floor of the Lübeck Bay in the western tip of the Baltic Sea.

Over the years, the wartime weapons was ignored and neglected. A increasing amount of visitors flocked to the sandy beaches and tranquil sea for water sports, kiteboarding and amusement parks. Below the waves, the weapons deteriorated.

We initially thought to see a barren area, with no organisms because it was all poisoned, states a scientist.

When the team went investigating to see what they were affecting to the ecosystem, researchers expected to see a barren area, with no organisms because it was all contaminated, explains a scientist.

What they found amazed them. Vedenin recalls his colleagues exclaiming in amazement when the underwater vehicle first relayed pictures. That moment was a remarkable experience, he says.

Thousands of sea creatures had established habitats amid the weapons, developing a renewed ecosystem denser than the ocean bottom around it.

This underwater metropolis was evidence to the tenacity of life. Indeed surprising how much life we discover in places that are considered hazardous and harmful, he states.

In excess of 40 sea stars had piled on to one accessible piece of TNT. They were dwelling on iron containers, ignition chambers and transport cases just centimetres from its volatile core. Marine fish, crustaceans, 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 creatures that was there, states Vedenin.

Remarkable Creature Concentration

An average of more than forty thousand animals were living on every square metre of the weapons, scientists wrote in their study on the finding. The adjacent region was much less diverse, with only eight thousand organisms on every square metre.

It is ironic that objects that are designed to eliminate all life are attracting so much life, explains Vedenin. It's evident how nature adjusts after a catastrophic event such as the World War II and how, in some way, marine life establishes itself to the most hazardous locations.

Man-made Structures as Marine Habitats

Man-made features such as shipwrecks, wind turbines, oil rigs and undersea pipes can provide alternatives, replacing some of the removed marine environment. This study reveals that munitions could be comparably beneficial – the bloom of marine organisms on those in the Bay of Lübeck is expected to be repeated elsewhere.

Between the late 1940s and 1948, 1.6m tons of arms were dumped off the Germany's shoreline. Countless of individuals transported them in vessels; some were dropped in designated areas, others just dumped while traveling. This is the first time researchers have studied how marine life has reacted.

Global Examples of Marine Adaptation

• In the US, decommissioned energy installations have become marine habitats
• Submerged vessels from the World War I have become environments for wildlife along the Potomac River in the state of Maryland
• Tank tracks that have become environment to reef-building organisms off Asan beach in Guam

These areas become even more valuable for organisms as the seas are increasingly depleted by fishing, bottom trawling and boat mooring. Sunken ships and explosive disposal locations essentially function as sanctuaries – they are not national parks, but almost any kind of human activity is prohibited, explains Vedenin. Consequently a many of species that are otherwise uncommon or decreasing, such as the cod fish, are thriving.

Coming Factors

Anywhere armed conflict has occurred in the recent history, surrounding seas are usually containing explosives, explains Vedenin. Millions of tonnes of explosive material lie in our oceans.

The sites of these explosives are insufficiently mapped, in part because of national borders, secret armed forces records and the situation that documents are buried in historic archives. They pose an detonation and security danger, as well as risk from the persistent leakage of toxic chemicals.

As the German government and additional nations start removing these remains, researchers aim to protect the ecosystems that have developed around them. In the Bay of Lübeck weapons are currently being extracted.

It would be wise to replace these metal carcasses originating from munitions with some more secure, various safe structures, like possibly concrete structures, says Vedenin.

He currently hopes that what happens in the Bay of Lübeck establishes a example for replacing habitats after munitions removal elsewhere – because even the most damaging explosives can become foundation for new life.