World War II Munitions, Torpedo Heads and Mines: The Way Marine Life Flourishes on Discarded Weapons

In the slightly salty sea off the German coast sits a collection of World War II explosives, torpedo heads and naval mines. Thrown off barges at the conclusion of the second world war and left behind, countless explosives have become matted together over the decades. They create a corroding carpet on the low-depth, muddy seafloor of the Bay of Lübeck in the western tip of the Baltic.

Over the years, the explosive stockpile was ignored and neglected. A increasing amount of visitors came to the coastal areas and calm waters for water sports, kiteboarding and entertainment venues. Underwater, the munitions deteriorated.

We initially anticipated to see a lifeless zone, with no organisms because it was all contaminated, states the lead researcher.

When the initial researchers went looking to see what they were doing to the ecosystem, some of us anticipated finding a lifeless zone, with no organisms because it was all toxic, explains a scientist.

What they observed astonished them. Vedenin recounts his scientists reacting with shock when the submersible first sent the images back. This was a remarkable experience, he notes.

Numerous of ocean life had settled among the explosives, creating a revitalized ecosystem more populous than the ocean bottom nearby.

This marine city was evidence to the tenacity of marine life. It is actually remarkable how much life we discover in places that are supposed to be hazardous and harmful, he states.

In excess of 40 starfish had piled on to one exposed fragment of TNT. They were dwelling on metal shells, ignition chambers and carrying containers just centimetres from its dangerous content. Marine fish, crabs, sea anemones and mussels were all discovered on the old munitions. It's similar to a coral reef in terms of the abundance of creatures that was there, says Vedenin.

Remarkable Population Density

An average of more than 40,000 creatures were living on every square metre of the weapons, researchers wrote in their paper on the discovery. The surrounding area was much poorer in life, with only 8,000 organisms on every meter squared.

It is ironic that objects that are meant to destroy everything are attracting so much marine organisms, says Vedenin. You can see how the natural world adjusts after a catastrophic event such as the World War II and how, in some way, marine life returns to the most risky locations.

Man-made Structures as Marine Habitats

Man-made constructions such as sunken vessels, wind turbines, oil rigs and undersea pipes can provide alternatives, restoring some of the lost marine environment. This study reveals that munitions could be equally beneficial – the proliferation of marine organisms on those in the Lübeck Bay is likely to be duplicated in different areas.

Between 1946 and the post-war period, 1.6 million tonnes of weapons were dumped off the Germany's coast. Numerous of people loaded them in boats; a portion were deposited in allocated sites, others just thrown overboard en route. This is the first time experts have documented how marine life has responded.

Global Examples of Marine Adaptation

• In the US, retired drilling platforms have become marine habitats
• Shipwrecks from the first world war have become environments for marine life along the Potomac in the state of Maryland
• Military vehicle parts that have become habitat to coral off Asan beach in Guam

These areas become even more crucial for wildlife as the seas are increasingly stripped by commercial fishing, bottom trawling and anchoring. Sunken ships and munitions areas essentially act as protected areas – they are not official reserves, but virtually any kind of anthropogenic disturbance is prohibited, explains Vedenin. Therefore a numerous of species that are typically uncommon or diminishing, such as the Baltic cod, are flourishing.

Coming Considerations

Anywhere armed conflict has taken place in the last century, nearby oceans are usually strewn with munitions, says Vedenin. Many millions of tons of dangerous substances rest in our marine environments.

The positions of these explosives are inadequately documented, in part because of sovereign limits, restricted armed forces records and the reality that documents are hidden in historical records. They present an explosion and safety risk, as well as risk from the ongoing leakage of hazardous substances.

As the German government and other countries start extracting these artifacts, researchers plan to preserve the ecosystems that have formed in their vicinity. In the Lübeck Bay munitions are presently being cleared.

We should substitute these iron structures left from weapons with some more secure, some safe objects, like maybe artificial reefs, states Vedenin.

He presently aspires that what happens in Lübeck creates a precedent for replacing structures after weapon clearance in other locations – because including the most harmful weaponry can become scaffolding for ocean ecosystems.