World War II Bombs, Torpedoes and Naval Mines: The Way Marine Life Flourishes on Discarded Weapons

In the slightly salty sea off the Germany's coast sits a wasteland of World War II explosives, torpedoes and naval mines. Discarded from boats at the end of the second world war and neglected, numerous weapons have fused into clusters over the decades. They comprise a decaying blanket on the shallow, silty seafloor of the Bay of Lübeck in the western tip of the Baltic.

Over the decades, the Nazi arsenal was ignored and neglected. A increasing amount of visitors came to the sandy beaches and tranquil sea for water sports, kite surfing and amusement parks. Below the waves, the munitions deteriorated.

Researchers expected to see a barren area, 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 marine environment, the team thought they would find a desert, with nothing living there because it was all poisoned, explains the lead researcher.

What they discovered surprised them. Vedenin remembers his colleagues shouting with surprise when the underwater vehicle first relayed pictures. That moment was a remarkable experience, he recalls.

Thousands of sea creatures had made their homes among the explosives, creating a regenerated ecosystem more populous than the ocean bottom around it.

This marine city was proof to the resilience of marine life. It is actually surprising how much marine organisms we discover in places that are considered toxic and harmful, he says.

Over 40 starfish had piled on to one visible piece of explosive material. They were dwelling on metal shells, fuse pockets and transport cases just a short distance from its dangerous content. Marine fish, crabs, anemones and mussels were all found on the historic weapons. It's similar to a coral reef in terms of the abundance of animal life that was inhabiting the area, says Vedenin.

Unexpected Creature Concentration

An average of more than 40,000 creatures were residing on every square metre of the munitions, researchers wrote in their research on the finding. The nearby seabed was much less diverse, with only eight thousand individuals on every square metre.

It is surprising that things that are meant to eliminate all life are attracting so much marine organisms, explains Vedenin. You can see how nature adjusts after a major disaster such as the second world war and how, in certain respects, marine life returns to the most dangerous areas.

Artificial Structures as Marine Habitats

Artificial features such as sunken vessels, wind turbines, drilling platforms and undersea pipes can provide alternatives, restoring some of the lost habitat. This study shows that weapons could be equally beneficial – the proliferation of marine organisms on those in the Bay of Lübeck is likely to be duplicated in different areas.

Between the late 1940s and 1948, 1.6 million tons of arms were dumped off the Germany's shoreline. Numerous of individuals placed them in barges; some were dropped in designated sites, the remainder just dumped while traveling. This is the first time scientists have documented how marine life has responded.

Worldwide Instances of Marine Adaptation

• In the US, decommissioned oil and gas structures have turned into marine habitats
• Submerged vessels from the first world war have become habitats for wildlife along the Potomac in the state of Maryland
• Military vehicle parts that have become habitat to coral off Asan beach in the Pacific island

These locations become even more crucial for wildlife as the seas are increasingly depleted by fishing, bottom trawling and anchoring. Sunken ships and munitions areas effectively function as refuges – they are not national parks, but virtually any kind of anthropogenic disturbance is prohibited, explains Vedenin. Therefore a many of organisms that are otherwise rare or declining, such as the Baltic cod, are prospering.

Coming Factors

Wherever warfare has occurred in the past 100 years, adjacent waters are often containing weapons, says Vedenin. Many millions of tons of volatile compounds lie in our oceans.

The sites of these explosives are insufficiently documented, partially because of international boundaries, classified military information and the reality that documents are stored in historical records. They present an explosion and safety hazard, as well as risk from the continuous release of poisonous compounds.

As Germany and additional nations begin extracting these artifacts, experts hope to protect the ecosystems that have developed in their vicinity. In the Lübeck Bay weapons are already being extracted.

Researchers recommend substitute these steel remains left from weapons with certain safer, some harmless structures, like maybe artificial reefs, says Vedenin.

He now wishes that what transpires in Lübeck sets a precedent for replacing material after weapon clearance in other locations – because even the most destructive explosives can become scaffolding for new life.