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

In the brackish sea off the German coast sits a collection of Nazi bombs, torpedo heads and mines. Discarded from barges at the end of the World War II and forgotten about, thousands weapons have become matted together over the decades. They form a rusting blanket on the shallow, silty seafloor of the Lübeck Bay in the western part of the Baltic.

Over the decades, the explosive stockpile was ignored and neglected. A increasing amount of visitors flocked to the coastal areas and calm waters for jetskiing, kite surfing and entertainment venues. Below the waves, the weapons deteriorated.

Some of us thought to see a desert, with no organisms because it was all poisoned, explains Andrey Vedenin.

When the initial researchers went looking to see what they were affecting to the ecosystem, some of us thought they would find a barren area, with no organisms because it was all contaminated, states Andrey Vedenin.

What they observed astonished them. Vedenin recalls his colleagues reacting with shock when the ROV first sent the images back. This was a great moment, he says.

Thousands of sea creatures had settled among the weapons, creating a regenerated habitat more populous than the ocean bottom nearby.

This underwater metropolis was proof to the resilience of marine life. Truly remarkable how much life we discover in areas that are considered hazardous and dangerous, he states.

Over 40 starfish had clustered on to one exposed piece of explosive material. They were living on iron containers, ignition chambers and storage boxes just a short distance from its dangerous content. Fish, crustaceans, sea anemones and mussels were all found on the old munitions. It's similar to a marine reef in terms of the abundance of animal life that was inhabiting the area, notes Vedenin.

Surprising Population Density

An mean of more than forty thousand animals were dwelling on every meter squared of the weapons, researchers documented in their paper on the finding. The adjacent region was much sparser, with only 8,000 organisms on every square metre.

It is surprising that objects that are meant to destroy all life are drawing so much marine organisms, explains Vedenin. You can see how the natural world adapts after a devastating occurrence such as the World War II and how, in some way, marine life returns to the most hazardous areas.

Artificial Features as Marine Habitats

Artificial structures such as shipwrecks, wind turbines, oil rigs and undersea pipes can provide alternatives, compensating for some of the removed habitat. This research shows that explosives could be equally advantageous – the proliferation of marine organisms on those in the Lübeck Bay is expected to be found in different areas.

Between 1946 and 1948, 1.6 million tons of weapons were disposed of off the German coast. Thousands of workers placed them in barges; a portion were dropped in specific areas, the remainder just discarded at sea en route. This is the initial instance experts have documented how ocean organisms has responded.

Global Instances of Ocean Transformation

• In the US, retired energy installations have become coral reefs
• Submerged vessels from the first world war have become environments for marine life along the Potomac River in the state of Maryland
• Tank tracks that have become environment to reef-building organisms off Asan beach in the Pacific island

These areas become even more crucial for organisms as the oceans are increasingly depleted by commercial fishing, bottom trawling and boat mooring. Sunken ships and munitions areas essentially serve as sanctuaries – they are not national parks, but almost any kind of anthropogenic disturbance is prohibited, states Vedenin. As a result a many of marine species that are usually rare or decreasing, such as the Baltic cod, are flourishing.

Coming Issues

Anywhere military conflict has taken place in the recent history, nearby oceans are usually littered with munitions, says Vedenin. Many millions of tonnes of dangerous substances remain in our marine environments.

The sites of these munitions are inadequately recorded, partly because of sovereign limits, secret armed forces records and the situation that documents are hidden in historical records. They create an explosion and security risk, as well as risk from the continuous leakage of toxic chemicals.

As Germany and additional nations begin removing these remains, scientists hope to safeguard the ecosystems that have established in their vicinity. In the Bay of Lübeck explosives are presently being extracted.

We should substitute these metal carcasses remaining from munitions with certain more secure, some safe structures, like perhaps concrete structures, states Vedenin.

He currently aspires that what transpires in the Bay of Lübeck establishes a example for replacing structures after weapon clearance elsewhere – because including the most destructive weaponry can become scaffolding for marine organisms.