World War II Bombs, Torpedoes and Mines: How Marine Life Thrives on Dumped Weapons

In the slightly salty waters off the Germany's shoreline lies a collection of World War II explosives, torpedoes and mines. Dumped from boats at the end of the second world war and left behind, thousands munitions have fused into clusters over the years. They comprise a rusting carpet on the low-depth, silty ocean floor of the Bay of Lübeck in the western tip of the Baltic Sea.

Over the decades, the Nazi arsenal was overlooked and neglected. A growing number of visitors traveled to the sandy beaches and calm waters for water sports, kite surfing and amusement parks. Beneath the surface, the munitions deteriorated.

We initially anticipated to see a lifeless zone, with nothing living there because it was all poisoned, says Andrey Vedenin.

When the team went searching to see what they were affecting to the ecosystem, researchers expected to see a lifeless zone, with nothing living there because it was all toxic, says a scientist.

What they discovered surprised them. Vedenin remembers his colleagues exclaiming in amazement when the ROV first sent the images back. That moment was a memorable occasion, he recalls.

Numerous of marine animals had made their homes on the explosives, creating a revitalized ecosystem denser than the ocean bottom nearby.

This ocean community was testament to the resilience of marine life. Indeed astonishing how much marine organisms we find in locations that are expected to be hazardous and dangerous, he says.

Over 40 starfish had gathered on to one visible piece of TNT. They were residing on metal shells, fuse pockets and storage boxes just centimetres from its explosive filling. Fish, crabs, sea anemones and bivalves were all observed on the old munitions. You could compare it with a reef ecosystem in terms of the abundance of fauna that was inhabiting the area, says Vedenin.

Remarkable Population Density

An mean of more than forty thousand creatures were dwelling on every square metre of the explosives, scientists documented in their paper on the discovery. The nearby seabed was much less diverse, with only 8,000 individuals on every square metre.

It is paradoxical that things that are intended to eliminate all life are drawing so much life, says Vedenin. You can see how the natural world adapts after a devastating occurrence such as the second world war and how, in some way, marine life establishes itself to the most dangerous areas.

Man-made Features as Marine Habitats

Artificial features such as sunken vessels, offshore windfarms, drilling platforms and pipelines can create replacements, compensating for some of the lost habitat. This research reveals that munitions could be similarly positive – the explosion of life on those in the Lübeck Bay is expected to be repeated elsewhere.

Between the late 1940s and the post-war period, 1.6m tonnes of munitions were discarded off the Germany's shoreline. Numerous of people transported them in vessels; a portion were deposited in allocated locations, the remainder just dumped while traveling. This is the initial instance researchers have documented how marine life has responded.

Global Examples of Marine Transformation

• In the United States, retired drilling platforms have transformed into reef ecosystems
• Sunken ships from the first world war have become environments for creatures along the Potomac River in the state of Maryland
• Military vehicle parts that have become home to coral off Asan in Guam

These locations become even more crucial for organisms as the marine environments are increasingly depleted by commercial fishing, seafloor dredging and boat mooring. Shipwrecks and explosive disposal locations practically act as refuges – they are not national parks, but almost any kind of human activity is restricted, states Vedenin. As a result a many of organisms that are typically rare or decreasing, such as the Baltic cod, are prospering.

Coming Considerations

Wherever military conflict has taken place in the past 100 years, surrounding seas are often littered with weapons, states Vedenin. Many millions of tonnes of volatile compounds lie in our marine environments.

The sites of these weapons are poorly recorded, in part because of sovereign limits, restricted armed forces records and the situation that documents are buried in historical records. They create an detonation and safety danger, as well as threat from the continuous emission of hazardous substances.

As Germany and other countries start extracting these relics, scientists aim to safeguard the habitats that have developed in their vicinity. In the Bay of Lübeck explosives are already being extracted.

We should substitute these steel remains left from munitions with some more secure, various safe objects, like possibly man-made habitats, says Vedenin.

He presently aspires that what transpires in the Bay of Lübeck creates a precedent for substituting material after weapon clearance elsewhere – because even the most harmful weaponry can become foundation for marine organisms.