World War II Bombs, Torpedoes and Naval Mines: How Ocean Creatures Thrives on Abandoned Armaments

In the slightly salty sea off the Germany's shoreline rests a collection of World War II explosives, torpedoes and mines. Discarded from barges at the end of the second world war and forgotten about, countless explosives have accumulated over the years. They form a rusting layer on the shallow, silty seafloor of the Lübeck Bay in the western tip of the Baltic.

Over the decades, the explosive stockpile was overlooked and forgotten about. A growing number of tourists traveled to the coastal areas and tranquil sea for water sports, kiteboarding and amusement parks. Underwater, the munitions decayed.

Researchers expected to see a lifeless zone, with no organisms because it was all contaminated, explains Andrey Vedenin.

When the initial researchers went searching to see what they were affecting to the ecosystem, some of us thought they would find a barren area, with no life because it was all contaminated, says a scientist.

What they discovered astonished them. Vedenin remembers his colleagues exclaiming in amazement when the submersible first sent the images back. It was a remarkable experience, he recalls.

Thousands of marine animals had made their homes amid the weapons, creating a renewed marine community more populous than the sea floor nearby.

This underwater metropolis was evidence to the tenacity of life. Truly surprising how much life we discover in places that are considered dangerous and risky, he explains.

In excess of 40 sea stars had piled on to one exposed piece of explosive material. They were residing on metal shells, detonator compartments and storage boxes just centimetres from its dangerous content. Marine fish, crustaceans, anemones and bivalves were all discovered on the discarded explosives. You could compare it with a coral reef in terms of the abundance of fauna that was inhabiting the area, notes Vedenin.

Remarkable Creature Concentration

An average of more than 40,000 creatures were living on every square metre of the munitions, experts documented in their research on the finding. The nearby seabed was much poorer in life, with only eight thousand organisms on every meter squared.

It is paradoxical that objects that are intended to kill everything are drawing so much life, explains Vedenin. You can see how nature adapts after a devastating occurrence such as the World War II and how, in certain respects, life establishes itself to the most risky locations.

Man-made Structures as Marine Habitats

Artificial constructions such as sunken vessels, wind turbines, oil rigs and pipelines can create alternatives, restoring some of the destroyed habitat. This study shows that explosives could be similarly positive – the explosion of marine organisms on those in the Bay of Lübeck is probable to be duplicated elsewhere.

Between 1946 and 1948, 1.6m tons of weapons were disposed of off the Germany's coast. Countless of individuals transported them in vessels; some were dropped in specific locations, the remainder just dumped en route. This is the first time scientists have documented how ocean organisms has responded.

Worldwide Instances of Marine Transformation

• In the US, retired oil and gas structures have turned into coral reefs
• Sunken ships from the World War I have become homes for wildlife along the Potomac in the state of Maryland
• Tank tracks that have become habitat to coral off Asan in the Pacific island

These areas become even more important for wildlife as the oceans are increasingly depleted by commercial fishing, bottom trawling and anchoring. Sunken ships and weapons dump sites practically function as refuges – they are not national parks, but almost any kind of anthropogenic disturbance is banned, explains Vedenin. Therefore a lot of species that are otherwise rare or diminishing, such as the Baltic cod, are prospering.

Coming Considerations

Wherever warfare has taken place in the past 100 years, surrounding seas are often littered with explosives, explains Vedenin. Millions of tonnes of volatile compounds lie in our seas.

The locations of these munitions are insufficiently documented, partly because of international boundaries, classified defense data and the situation that records are buried in historical records. They pose an detonation and safety risk, as well as risk from the persistent leakage of poisonous compounds.

As Germany and additional nations embark on extracting these artifacts, scientists aim to preserve the marine communities that have established around them. In the Lübeck Bay explosives are currently being cleared.

Researchers recommend replace these steel remains left from weapons with some more secure, various safe objects, like maybe concrete structures, states Vedenin.

He presently hopes that what happens in Lübeck creates a model for replacing habitats after weapon clearance in other locations – because also the most destructive armaments can become foundation for ocean ecosystems.