World War II Bombs, Torpedo Heads and Naval Mines: The Way Marine Life Flourishes on Abandoned Armaments

In the brackish waters off the Germany's coast sits a collection of Nazi bombs, torpedoes and mines. Discarded from boats at the end of the second world war and neglected, thousands munitions have become matted together over the decades. They comprise a decaying blanket on the low-depth, muddy seafloor of the Bay of Lübeck in the western part of the Baltic Sea.

Over the years, the explosive stockpile was ignored and neglected. A growing number of visitors traveled to the coastal areas and calm waters for jetskiing, kite surfing and amusement parks. Below the waves, the munitions decayed.

Some of us expected to see a desert, with no life because it was all poisoned, explains a scientist.

When the first scientists went investigating to see what they were affecting to the ecosystem, researchers thought they would find a lifeless zone, with nothing living there because it was all poisoned, explains Andrey Vedenin.

What they discovered amazed them. Vedenin remembers his colleagues exclaiming in amazement when the underwater vehicle first sent the images back. This was a memorable occasion, he recalls.

Countless of marine animals had established habitats on the weapons, developing a revitalized marine community more populous than the sea floor nearby.

This underwater metropolis was evidence to the resilience of life. Indeed surprising how much life we find in areas that are expected to be hazardous and risky, he states.

More than 40 sea stars had gathered on to one exposed piece of TNT. They were dwelling on steel casings, fuse pockets and transport cases just centimetres from its explosive filling. Fish, crabs, sea anemones and bivalves were all observed on the historic weapons. It resembles a reef ecosystem in terms of the abundance of animal life that was there, says Vedenin.

Remarkable Creature Concentration

An average of more than 40,000 creatures were dwelling on every square metre of the weapons, researchers reported in their study on the discovery. The surrounding area was much poorer in life, with only eight thousand creatures on every square metre.

It is surprising that things that are intended to eliminate all life are drawing so much life, states Vedenin. You can see how the natural world adapts after a devastating occurrence such as the World War II and how, in some way, life finds its way to the most dangerous locations.

Man-made Structures as Marine Habitats

Man-made features such as shipwrecks, wind turbines, drilling platforms and undersea pipes can offer replacements, compensating for some of the destroyed habitat. This investigation shows that weapons could be equally beneficial – the explosion of life on those in the Lübeck Bay is probable to be repeated in different areas.

Between the late 1940s and the post-war period, 1.6m tonnes of arms were discarded off the Germany's shoreline. Numerous of workers loaded them in boats; some were deposited in allocated sites, the remainder just thrown overboard while traveling. This is the first time experts have studied how ocean organisms has reacted.

Global Examples of Marine Adaptation

• In the United States, decommissioned oil and gas structures have become coral reefs
• Sunken ships from the first world war have become environments for wildlife along the Potomac River in Maryland
• Military vehicle parts that have become environment to reef-building organisms off Asan in Guam

These areas become even more crucial for marine life as the oceans are increasingly depleted by fishing, seafloor dredging and anchoring. Sunken ships and weapons dump sites practically act as refuges – they are not national parks, but almost any kind of human activity is banned, states Vedenin. Therefore a numerous of organisms that are otherwise rare or declining, such as the cod fish, are flourishing.

Coming Factors

Wherever military conflict has happened in the recent history, nearby oceans are usually containing weapons, explains Vedenin. Millions of tons of dangerous substances remain in our seas.

The positions of these weapons are inadequately documented, partly because of national borders, classified armed forces records and the reality that records are stored in historic archives. They present an explosion and security danger, as well as threat from the continuous leakage of hazardous substances.

As Germany and different states start extracting these relics, experts aim to preserve the marine communities that have developed nearby. In the Lübeck Bay explosives are presently being cleared.

It would be wise to substitute these iron structures remaining from weapons with certain more secure, some non-dangerous materials, like maybe man-made habitats, says Vedenin.

He now aspires that what transpires in Lübeck establishes a model for replacing structures after explosive extraction elsewhere – because even the most destructive armaments can become framework for new life.