World War II Explosives, Torpedo Heads and Naval Mines: The Way Marine Life Prosper on Discarded Armaments

In the slightly salty sea off the Germany's coast rests a collection of Nazi bombs, torpedo heads and mines. Thrown off vessels at the conclusion of the second world war and neglected, numerous explosives have become matted together over the decades. They create a rusting layer on the shallow, silty seafloor of the Lübeck Bay in the western part of the Baltic Sea.

Over the decades, the Nazi arsenal was ignored and neglected. A increasing amount of tourists traveled to the coastal areas and tranquil sea for jetskiing, kite surfing and entertainment venues. Underwater, the munitions eroded.

Researchers thought to see a barren area, with no life because it was all poisoned, explains the lead researcher.

When the team went looking to see what they were doing to the marine environment, researchers anticipated finding a lifeless zone, with nothing living there because it was all toxic, says a scientist.

What they found astonished them. Vedenin remembers his team members exclaiming in amazement when the submersible first sent the images back. This was a great moment, he says.

Countless of ocean life had made their homes on the weapons, forming a regenerated ecosystem richer than the seabed surrounding it.

This ocean community was evidence to the tenacity of life. It is actually astonishing how much life we observe in areas that are expected to be hazardous and dangerous, he explains.

In excess of 40 starfish had gathered on to one visible chunk of TNT. They were dwelling on steel casings, ignition chambers and carrying containers just a short distance from its dangerous content. Fish, crustaceans, sea anemones and mussels were all found on the discarded explosives. It's similar to a reef ecosystem in terms of the quantity of creatures that was inhabiting the area, notes Vedenin.

Unexpected Creature Concentration

An mean of more than forty thousand organisms were residing on every square metre of the explosives, researchers wrote in their paper on the discovery. The surrounding area was much less diverse, with only eight thousand individuals on every square metre.

It is paradoxical that objects that are intended to kill all life are hosting so much life, states Vedenin. It's evident how the natural world adjusts after a catastrophic event such as the World War II and how, in some way, marine life establishes itself to the most dangerous places.

Man-made Structures as Marine Environments

Man-made structures such as sunken vessels, wind turbines, oil rigs and undersea pipes can create replacements, restoring some of the destroyed habitat. This study reveals that munitions could be comparably positive – the explosion of marine organisms on those in the Lübeck Bay is likely to be repeated in different areas.

Between 1946 and 1948, 1.6 million tons of arms were disposed of off the German coast. Countless of people loaded them in vessels; some were dropped in allocated sites, others just discarded at sea during transport. This is the initial instance researchers have recorded how ocean organisms has reacted.

Worldwide Examples of Ocean Adaptation

• In the United States, decommissioned oil and gas structures have transformed into coral reefs
• Submerged vessels from the World War I have become habitats for marine life along the Potomac in the state of Maryland
• Tank tracks that have become habitat to coral off Asan in Guam

These places become even more crucial for marine life as the oceans are increasingly stripped by commercial fishing, bottom trawling and boat mooring. Sunken ships and munitions areas practically serve as sanctuaries – they are not official reserves, but virtually any kind of anthropogenic disturbance is restricted, explains Vedenin. Consequently a lot of marine species that are usually uncommon or decreasing, such as the Baltic cod, are thriving.

Coming Considerations

Anywhere armed conflict has happened in the past 100 years, nearby oceans are often littered with weapons, explains Vedenin. Many millions of tons of explosive material lie in our oceans.

The locations of these munitions are insufficiently documented, partly because of national borders, secret military information and the fact that archives are hidden in historical records. They create an explosion and security risk, as well as risk from the continuous release of hazardous substances.

As the German government and other countries start extracting these relics, researchers aim to preserve the marine communities that have formed in their vicinity. In the Lübeck Bay explosives are already being extracted.

Researchers recommend replace these steel remains originating from munitions with some more secure, various harmless structures, like possibly artificial reefs, states Vedenin.

He currently wishes that what transpires in the Bay of Lübeck creates a precedent for substituting material after explosive extraction in other locations – because including the most destructive weaponry can become scaffolding for new life.