World War II Bombs, Torpedo Heads and Naval Mines: The Way Marine Life Prosper on Discarded Weapons

In the brackish waters off the German shoreline sits a wasteland of Nazi bombs, torpedo heads and naval mines. Thrown off boats at the conclusion of the World War II and left behind, countless weapons have become matted together over the years. They form a decaying blanket on the low-depth, silty seafloor of the Bay of Lübeck in the western tip of the Baltic Sea.

Over the years, the wartime weapons was ignored and forgotten about. A growing number of tourists traveled to the sandy beaches and tranquil sea for water sports, kiteboarding and entertainment venues. Below the waves, the munitions decayed.

We initially thought to see a lifeless zone, with nothing living there because it was all contaminated, explains a scientist.

When the first scientists went searching to see what they were doing to the marine environment, researchers expected to see a barren area, with nothing living there because it was all toxic, says the lead researcher.

What they found amazed them. Vedenin recalls his scientists exclaiming in amazement when the ROV first relayed pictures. That moment was a great moment, he recalls.

Thousands of ocean life had made their homes on the munitions, developing a renewed ecosystem denser than the ocean bottom surrounding it.

This marine city was evidence to the resilience of marine life. Truly remarkable how much marine organisms we discover in locations that are expected to be hazardous and harmful, he explains.

In excess of 40 starfish had clustered on to one accessible piece of TNT. They were residing on steel casings, ignition chambers and storage boxes just a short distance from its volatile core. Marine fish, crustaceans, sea anemones and bivalves were all found on the discarded explosives. You could compare it with a marine reef in terms of the quantity of fauna that was inhabiting the area, says Vedenin.

Unexpected Creature Concentration

An average of more than 40,000 creatures were living on every square metre of the munitions, scientists documented in their study on the discovery. The adjacent region was much sparser, with only 8,000 individuals on every square metre.

It is ironic that objects that are intended to kill everything are attracting so much life, states Vedenin. It's evident how nature evolves after a major disaster such as the second world war and how, in some way, life finds its way to the most hazardous areas.

Artificial Structures as Marine Habitats

Man-made structures such as shipwrecks, wind turbines, oil rigs and undersea pipes can create replacements, compensating for some of the destroyed habitat. This investigation reveals that weapons could be similarly advantageous – the bloom of life on those in the Bay of Lübeck is likely to be repeated elsewhere.

Between 1946 and the post-war period, 1.6 million tons of weapons were discarded off the Germany's shoreline. Numerous of people placed them in boats; a portion were placed in allocated areas, the remainder just discarded at sea during transport. This is the initial instance scientists have documented how ocean organisms has adapted.

Global Examples of Ocean Adaptation

• In the US, decommissioned energy installations have become reef ecosystems
• Shipwrecks from the World War I have become habitats for wildlife along the Potomac River in Maryland
• Military vehicle parts that have become environment to reef-building organisms off Asan beach in Guam

These areas become even more important for organisms as the seas are increasingly denuded by fishing, bottom trawling and boat mooring. Shipwrecks and explosive disposal locations practically serve as refuges – they are not official reserves, but virtually any kind of human activity is banned, explains Vedenin. As a result a many of marine species that are otherwise uncommon or diminishing, such as the cod fish, are thriving.

Coming Factors

Anywhere military conflict has taken place in the last century, surrounding seas are often strewn with explosives, says Vedenin. Millions of tonnes of dangerous substances lie in our seas.

The positions of these munitions are poorly documented, in part because of national borders, secret defense data and the fact that records are stored in old files. They present an detonation and security risk, as well as threat from the ongoing leakage of hazardous substances.

As Germany and other countries begin removing these relics, scientists hope to preserve the marine communities that have formed nearby. In the Bay of Lübeck munitions are already being extracted.

We should replace these metal carcasses left from weapons with certain more secure, some non-dangerous materials, like maybe concrete structures, states Vedenin.

He presently hopes that what occurs in Lübeck creates a example for replacing structures after munitions removal in other locations – because also the most destructive explosives can become scaffolding for new life.