World War II Bombs, Torpedoes and Naval Mines: How Ocean Creatures Prosper on Dumped Armaments

In the slightly salty sea off the Germany's coast lies a graveyard of Nazi bombs, torpedoes and mines. Dumped from boats at the conclusion of the World War II and neglected, thousands munitions have become matted together over the decades. They form a rusting layer on the shallow, muddy ocean floor of the Lübeck Bay in the western tip of the Baltic Sea.

Over the years, the wartime weapons was overlooked and neglected. A growing number of tourists came to the coastal areas and tranquil sea for jetskiing, kiteboarding and amusement parks. Underwater, the weapons decayed.

We initially anticipated to see a barren area, with nothing living there because it was all contaminated, explains Andrey Vedenin.

When the team went looking to see what they were affecting to the marine environment, some of us expected to see a lifeless zone, with no life because it was all poisoned, explains the lead researcher.

What they found surprised them. Vedenin remembers his colleagues shouting with surprise when the underwater vehicle first transmitted footage. That moment was a memorable occasion, he notes.

Countless of sea creatures had settled on the weapons, creating a regenerated marine community more populous than the ocean bottom around it.

This underwater metropolis was testament to the persistence of marine life. Indeed remarkable how much marine organisms we observe in places that are considered dangerous and dangerous, he says.

More than 40 sea stars had gathered on to one exposed fragment of TNT. They were dwelling on iron containers, ignition chambers and transport cases just a short distance from its volatile core. Fish, crabs, sea anemones and bivalves were all found on the historic weapons. It resembles a coral reef in terms of the amount of animal life that was there, says Vedenin.

Remarkable Population Density

An average of more than 40,000 creatures were living on every square metre of the explosives, scientists wrote in their study on the finding. The nearby seabed was much sparser, with only 8,000 creatures on every square metre.

It is ironic that items that are designed to destroy all life are drawing so much life, explains Vedenin. It's evident how the natural world evolves after a major disaster such as the World War II and how, in certain respects, life returns to the most dangerous places.

Man-made Features as Marine Environments

Artificial features such as shipwrecks, wind turbines, oil rigs and pipelines can create replacements, compensating for some of the removed marine environment. This study reveals that munitions could be equally positive – the explosion of life on those in the Lübeck Bay is probable to be duplicated in other locations.

Between the late 1940s and 1948, 1.6m tonnes of weapons were discarded off the German shoreline. Thousands of people transported them in boats; some were placed in specific locations, others just discarded at sea while traveling. This is the initial instance experts have documented how ocean organisms has reacted.

Global Examples of Marine Transformation

• In the United States, retired oil and gas structures have transformed into coral reefs
• Sunken ships from the World War I have become homes for creatures along the Potomac River in Maryland
• Military vehicle parts that have become environment to coral off Asan beach in the Pacific island

These places become even more valuable for marine life as the oceans are increasingly denuded by commercial fishing, seafloor dredging and boat mooring. Sunken ships and weapons dump sites practically function as refuges – they are not national parks, but virtually any kind of anthropogenic disturbance is banned, explains Vedenin. Therefore a numerous of organisms that are otherwise rare or diminishing, such as the cod fish, are flourishing.

Coming Considerations

Anywhere armed conflict has happened in the last century, surrounding seas are typically containing explosives, explains Vedenin. Millions of tons of volatile compounds remain in our oceans.

The positions of these munitions are inadequately recorded, partly because of sovereign limits, secret military information and the reality that archives are hidden in historical records. They pose an detonation and safety risk, as well as risk from the ongoing leakage of hazardous substances.

As Germany and additional nations begin extracting these relics, researchers hope to safeguard the marine communities that have established nearby. In the Bay of Lübeck munitions are already being extracted.

It would be wise to replace these steel remains originating from munitions with some less dangerous, some safe materials, like possibly artificial reefs, states Vedenin.

He now aspires that what occurs in the Bay of Lübeck sets a precedent for replacing structures after weapon clearance in other locations – because even the most harmful weaponry can become framework for new life.