World War II Explosives, Torpedo Heads and Naval Mines: How Marine Life Flourishes on Abandoned Weapons

In the slightly salty waters off the Germany's coast lies a graveyard of Nazi bombs, torpedo heads and mines. Thrown off barges at the end of the World War II and left behind, thousands munitions have accumulated over the years. They create a decaying carpet on the shallow, silty 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 traveled to the sandy beaches and tranquil sea for water sports, kiteboarding and entertainment venues. Beneath the surface, the munitions eroded.

Some of us expected to see a barren area, with nothing living there because it was all contaminated, says a scientist.

When the first scientists went investigating to see what they were doing to the ecosystem, researchers anticipated finding a lifeless zone, with no organisms because it was all contaminated, states a scientist.

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

Thousands of sea creatures had made their homes among the explosives, forming a revitalized marine community more populous than the seabed nearby.

This marine city was testament to the tenacity of marine life. It is actually remarkable how much life we discover in areas that are supposed to be hazardous and risky, he says.

In excess of 40 starfish had clustered on to one accessible piece of TNT. They were dwelling on steel casings, detonator compartments and transport cases just a short distance from its explosive filling. Fish, crustaceans, anemones and bivalves were all observed on the discarded explosives. It resembles a reef ecosystem in terms of the abundance of fauna that was present, states Vedenin.

Surprising Creature Concentration

An average of more than 40,000 animals were residing on every square metre of the weapons, scientists wrote in their study on the observation. The nearby seabed was much poorer in life, with only eight thousand organisms on every meter squared.

It is ironic that things that are meant to destroy everything are hosting so much life, explains Vedenin. It's evident how the natural world adapts after a devastating occurrence such as the World War II and how, in certain respects, marine life returns to the most dangerous places.

Artificial Structures as Marine Environments

Artificial constructions such as sunken vessels, offshore windfarms, drilling platforms and undersea pipes can provide alternatives, restoring some of the removed habitat. This research demonstrates that weapons could be comparably advantageous – the bloom of marine organisms on those in the Lübeck Bay is probable to be found in other locations.

Between 1946 and the post-war period, 1.6m tonnes of arms were dumped off the Germany's shoreline. Numerous of people transported them in boats; some were deposited in specific areas, the remainder just dumped during transport. This is the initial instance experts have studied how ocean organisms has reacted.

Global Examples of Ocean Transformation

• In the United States, retired oil and gas structures have transformed into reef ecosystems
• Submerged vessels from the World War I have become habitats for wildlife along the Potomac River in Maryland
• Tank tracks that have become environment to reef-building organisms off Asan beach in the Pacific island

These locations become even more valuable for wildlife as the oceans are increasingly stripped by fishing, bottom trawling and anchoring. Sunken ships and weapons dump sites practically serve as sanctuaries – they are not national parks, but virtually any kind of human activity is banned, says Vedenin. As a result a numerous of species that are otherwise uncommon or diminishing, such as the cod fish, are flourishing.

Coming Issues

Wherever warfare has happened in the last century, surrounding seas are usually littered with weapons, says Vedenin. Millions of tonnes of explosive material rest in our seas.

The sites of these explosives are inadequately mapped, partly because of international boundaries, secret military information and the fact that archives are hidden in historic archives. They present an detonation and safety risk, as well as danger from the ongoing emission of poisonous compounds.

As Germany and different states embark on extracting these relics, researchers aim to protect the habitats that have established around them. In the Lübeck Bay munitions are presently being cleared.

Researchers recommend replace these steel remains remaining from weapons with some less dangerous, various non-dangerous objects, like perhaps artificial reefs, suggests Vedenin.

He currently aspires that what occurs in Lübeck establishes a example for substituting habitats after munitions removal elsewhere – because including the most damaging weaponry can become foundation for new life.