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

In the brackish waters off the German coast lies a wasteland of World War II explosives, torpedo heads and mines. Thrown off barges at the conclusion of the second world war and forgotten about, countless explosives have fused into clusters over the years. They create a corroding layer on the shallow, muddy ocean floor of the Bay of Lübeck in the western part of the Baltic.

Over the years, the wartime weapons was ignored and forgotten about. A increasing amount of visitors came to the sandy beaches and calm waters for water sports, kiteboarding and entertainment venues. Below the waves, the munitions deteriorated.

Researchers expected to see a lifeless zone, with no life because it was all poisoned, explains a scientist.

When the team went searching to see what they were affecting to the marine environment, the team thought they would find a lifeless zone, with no life because it was all toxic, states the lead researcher.

What they observed surprised them. Vedenin remembers his colleagues reacting with shock when the submersible first sent the images back. This was a memorable occasion, he recalls.

Countless of sea creatures had settled on the weapons, creating a revitalized habitat richer than the ocean bottom surrounding it.

This ocean community was evidence to the resilience of life. Truly astonishing how much life we find in locations that are considered hazardous and risky, he says.

Over 40 starfish had clustered on to one accessible piece of TNT. They were dwelling on steel casings, ignition chambers and storage boxes just a short distance from its volatile core. Marine fish, crabs, anemones and bivalves were all discovered on the discarded explosives. It's similar to a reef ecosystem in terms of the abundance of creatures that was present, says Vedenin.

Unexpected Creature Concentration

An mean of more than forty thousand creatures were living on every square metre of the munitions, experts reported in their study on the observation. The nearby seabed was much sparser, with only 8,000 creatures on every meter squared.

It is paradoxical that objects that are meant to kill everything are attracting so much life, says Vedenin. One can observe how nature adjusts after a major disaster such as the World War II and how, in certain respects, life establishes itself to the most risky locations.

Artificial Features as Ocean Habitats

Man-made features such as shipwrecks, offshore windfarms, oil rigs and undersea pipes can provide substitutes, replacing some of the removed habitat. This research reveals that weapons could be equally advantageous – the explosion of life on those in the Bay of Lübeck is probable to be found elsewhere.

Between the late 1940s and the post-war period, 1.6m tons of munitions were discarded off the Germany's shoreline. Countless of workers placed them in barges; a portion were placed in designated areas, the remainder just discarded at sea en route. This is the first time scientists have studied how ocean organisms has adapted.

Worldwide Instances of Ocean Adaptation

• In the US, retired energy installations have turned into coral reefs
• Sunken ships from the first world war have become habitats for marine life along the Potomac River in the state of Maryland
• Tank tracks that have become habitat to coral off Asan in the Pacific island

These areas become even more valuable for organisms as the marine environments are increasingly depleted by commercial fishing, bottom trawling and anchoring. Sunken ships and weapons dump sites essentially act as refuges – they are not official reserves, but virtually any kind of human activity is banned, says Vedenin. Consequently a many of organisms that are typically scarce or decreasing, such as the cod fish, are prospering.

Coming Issues

Wherever armed conflict has happened in the recent history, adjacent waters are typically littered with munitions, says Vedenin. Millions of tonnes of explosive material rest in our oceans.

The locations of these weapons are poorly mapped, in part because of international boundaries, classified military information and the fact that archives are buried in historical records. They create an detonation and safety danger, as well as threat from the persistent leakage of poisonous compounds.

As Germany and different states start removing these remains, researchers aim to preserve the habitats that have established in their vicinity. In the Bay of Lübeck weapons are already being cleared.

Researchers recommend substitute these iron structures remaining from weapons with certain less dangerous, various harmless materials, like possibly artificial reefs, suggests Vedenin.

He presently wishes that what transpires in the Bay of Lübeck establishes a model for substituting material after weapon clearance in different areas – because including the most damaging armaments can become scaffolding for ocean ecosystems.