World War II Bombs, Torpedoes and Mines: How Ocean Creatures Prosper on Discarded Weapons

In the brackish waters off the Germany's coast lies a wasteland of World War II explosives, torpedoes and mines. Thrown off barges at the end of the second world war and neglected, numerous weapons have fused into clusters over the decades. They create a corroding layer on the shallow, silty ocean floor 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 visitors came to the sandy beaches and calm waters for water sports, kite surfing and amusement parks. Beneath the surface, the weapons deteriorated.

Some of us thought to see a lifeless zone, with no organisms because it was all toxic, says Andrey Vedenin.

When the initial researchers went looking to see what they were doing to the ecosystem, researchers expected to see a barren area, with no organisms because it was all poisoned, states a scientist.

What they discovered amazed them. Vedenin recalls his scientists shouting with surprise when the ROV first sent the images back. This was a memorable occasion, he recalls.

Countless of marine animals had settled on the explosives, creating a revitalized habitat richer than the seabed surrounding it.

This marine city was proof to the persistence of marine life. Indeed surprising how much life we discover in places that are considered toxic and harmful, he says.

Over 40 sea stars had piled on to one accessible chunk of TNT. They were residing on metal shells, ignition chambers and storage boxes just centimetres from its dangerous content. Fish, crabs, anemones and mussels were all observed on the old munitions. It's similar to a coral reef in terms of the amount of animal life that was there, notes Vedenin.

Remarkable Creature Concentration

An average of more than 40,000 creatures were living on every meter squared of the explosives, scientists wrote in their research on the observation. The adjacent region was much poorer in life, with only eight thousand individuals on every meter squared.

It is ironic that items that are meant to eliminate all life are drawing so much life, says Vedenin. One can observe how the natural world adjusts after a catastrophic event such as the World War II and how, in certain respects, life finds its way to the most risky places.

Man-made Structures as Ocean Environments

Man-made constructions such as shipwrecks, wind turbines, drilling platforms and pipelines can offer alternatives, restoring some of the destroyed marine environment. This research shows that munitions could be similarly beneficial – the explosion of life on those in the Bay of Lübeck is likely to be repeated elsewhere.

Between the late 1940s and 1948, 1.6m tons of weapons were discarded off the German coast. Countless of individuals loaded them in barges; some were deposited in allocated sites, others just thrown overboard en route. This is the initial instance scientists have documented how ocean organisms has responded.

Global Instances of Ocean Transformation

• In the United States, retired oil and gas structures have become reef ecosystems
• Submerged vessels from the World War I have become environments for creatures along the Potomac River in Maryland
• Military vehicle parts that have become home to coral off Asan in Guam

These places become even more crucial for marine life as the seas are increasingly depleted by fishing, bottom trawling and anchoring. Sunken ships and weapons dump sites essentially serve as sanctuaries – they are not national parks, but virtually any kind of anthropogenic disturbance is restricted, states Vedenin. Therefore a many of species that are typically rare or declining, such as the Baltic cod, are thriving.

Future Issues

Wherever military conflict has occurred in the last century, surrounding seas are often littered with explosives, states Vedenin. Many millions of tonnes of explosive material remain in our seas.

The locations of these explosives are insufficiently mapped, partially because of international boundaries, classified military information and the reality that documents are hidden in historic archives. They present an explosion and security risk, as well as threat from the persistent release of toxic chemicals.

As Germany and additional nations begin removing these artifacts, experts hope to safeguard the marine communities that have established in their vicinity. In the Lübeck Bay explosives are already being removed.

We should replace these metal carcasses left from munitions with some more secure, some non-dangerous structures, like perhaps man-made habitats, suggests Vedenin.

He currently wishes that what occurs in Lübeck sets a model for substituting habitats after munitions removal in other locations – because even the most damaging weaponry can become framework for marine organisms.