World War II Explosives, Torpedo Heads and Naval Mines: How Ocean Creatures Flourishes on Discarded Weapons

In the brackish waters off the Germany's coast lies a wasteland of World War II explosives, torpedo heads and naval mines. Discarded from vessels at the end of the second world war and forgotten about, numerous explosives have accumulated over the years. They comprise a decaying blanket on the shallow, silty ocean floor of the Lübeck Bay in the western part of the Baltic Sea.

Over the years, the explosive stockpile was ignored and forgotten about. A increasing amount of visitors traveled to the sandy beaches and calm waters for water sports, kite surfing and amusement parks. Underwater, the munitions eroded.

We initially thought to see a desert, with nothing living there because it was all poisoned, explains the lead researcher.

When the team went looking to see what they were affecting to the ecosystem, researchers expected to see a lifeless zone, with no organisms because it was all contaminated, states Andrey Vedenin.

What they discovered surprised them. Vedenin recounts his scientists reacting with shock when the submersible first transmitted footage. This was a great moment, he says.

Numerous of marine animals had settled amid the explosives, creating a renewed marine community more populous than the sea floor around it.

This ocean community was evidence to the persistence of life. Truly remarkable how much life we find in areas that are expected to be toxic and risky, he states.

In excess of 40 sea stars had piled on to one accessible fragment of explosive material. They were living on steel casings, detonator compartments and carrying containers just centimetres from its explosive filling. Fish, crustaceans, sea anemones and bivalves were all discovered on the old munitions. It's similar to a reef ecosystem in terms of the quantity of fauna that was present, says Vedenin.

Remarkable Creature Concentration

An mean of more than forty thousand animals were dwelling on every meter squared of the munitions, experts wrote in their research on the finding. The surrounding area was much poorer in life, with only 8,000 organisms on every square metre.

It is surprising that items that are meant to eliminate everything are attracting so much life, says Vedenin. You can see how the natural world evolves after a catastrophic event such as the second world war and how, in certain respects, life establishes itself to the most dangerous places.

Man-made Features as Ocean Environments

Artificial structures such as sunken vessels, wind turbines, oil rigs and undersea pipes can offer substitutes, compensating for some of the lost habitat. This research shows that weapons could be comparably beneficial – the explosion of life on those in the Lübeck Bay is probable to be repeated in different areas.

Between 1946 and the post-war period, 1.6 million tons of munitions were discarded off the Germany's shoreline. Countless of individuals placed them in vessels; a portion were dropped in specific areas, the remainder just dumped en route. This is the initial instance scientists have recorded how ocean organisms has reacted.

Global Examples of Marine Transformation

• In the US, decommissioned drilling platforms have become marine habitats
• Shipwrecks from the World War I have become habitats for creatures along the Potomac in Maryland
• Tank tracks that have become environment to reef-building organisms off Asan beach in the Pacific island

These places become even more crucial for marine life as the seas are increasingly depleted by fishing, bottom trawling and boat mooring. Shipwrecks and explosive disposal locations essentially act as refuges – they are not national parks, but nearly any kind of human activity is restricted, explains Vedenin. Therefore a lot of organisms that are usually uncommon or declining, such as the cod fish, are flourishing.

Future Factors

Anywhere warfare has occurred in the recent history, nearby oceans are often strewn with weapons, states Vedenin. Many millions of tons of volatile compounds lie in our seas.

The positions of these weapons are poorly documented, in part because of national borders, restricted armed forces records and the reality that records are hidden in historical records. They create an explosion and safety danger, as well as risk from the persistent leakage of poisonous compounds.

As Germany and other countries start removing these artifacts, researchers hope to safeguard the ecosystems that have formed nearby. In the Bay of Lübeck explosives are currently being cleared.

It would be wise to replace these iron structures remaining from munitions with certain less dangerous, some non-dangerous structures, like perhaps concrete structures, suggests Vedenin.

He presently hopes that what transpires in the Bay of Lübeck creates a precedent for replacing material after explosive extraction elsewhere – because also the most damaging armaments can become scaffolding for new life.