World War II Explosives, Torpedo Heads and Naval Mines: The Way Marine Life Flourishes on Dumped Weapons

In the brackish waters off the German coast lies a wasteland of World War II explosives, torpedo heads and naval mines. Dumped from boats at the conclusion of the World War II and left behind, numerous explosives have become matted together over the years. They comprise a corroding blanket on the low-depth, muddy ocean floor of the Lübeck Bay in the western part of the Baltic.

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

Researchers anticipated to see a barren area, with nothing living there because it was all poisoned, states the lead researcher.

When the team went investigating to see what they were affecting to the marine environment, the team anticipated finding a lifeless zone, with no life because it was all toxic, explains the lead researcher.

What they discovered surprised them. Vedenin recounts his scientists shouting with surprise when the submersible first transmitted footage. That moment was a memorable occasion, he says.

Countless of marine animals had settled among the explosives, creating a regenerated marine community richer than the ocean bottom nearby.

This marine city was testament to the resilience of marine life. Indeed remarkable how much marine organisms we discover in places that are supposed to be toxic and dangerous, he states.

More than 40 sea stars had piled on to one visible piece of TNT. They were residing on metal shells, ignition chambers and carrying containers just a short distance from its dangerous content. Marine fish, crabs, anemones and mussels were all discovered on the historic weapons. You could compare it with a coral reef in terms of the amount of animal life that was present, states Vedenin.

Unexpected Creature Concentration

An mean of more than forty thousand organisms were residing on every meter squared of the munitions, experts reported in their paper on the discovery. The adjacent region was much less diverse, with only eight thousand organisms on every meter squared.

It is surprising that objects that are meant to eliminate everything are drawing so much marine organisms, says Vedenin. One can observe how nature adjusts after a devastating occurrence such as the World War II and how, in some way, marine life establishes itself to the most dangerous locations.

Artificial Features as Ocean Habitats

Man-made constructions such as sunken vessels, offshore windfarms, oil rigs and undersea pipes can offer alternatives, replacing some of the removed habitat. This research shows that explosives could be comparably positive – the explosion of marine organisms on those in the Lübeck Bay is expected to be duplicated in different areas.

Between 1946 and the post-war period, 1.6m tons of weapons were disposed of off the German coast. Thousands of people loaded them in boats; some were placed in designated areas, others just thrown overboard during transport. This is the initial instance scientists have documented how marine life has adapted.

Worldwide Instances of Ocean Adaptation

• In the US, decommissioned drilling platforms have become reef ecosystems
• Submerged vessels from the first world war have become homes for marine life along the Potomac in Maryland
• Tank tracks that have become environment to reef-building organisms off Asan in the Pacific island

These places become even more important for marine life as the marine environments are increasingly denuded by commercial fishing, seafloor dredging and boat mooring. Sunken ships and weapons dump sites practically serve as protected areas – they are not national parks, but virtually any kind of human activity is prohibited, states Vedenin. Therefore a lot of organisms that are typically rare or declining, such as the Baltic cod, are prospering.

Coming Considerations

Wherever warfare has happened in the last century, nearby oceans are often littered with munitions, states Vedenin. Many millions of tonnes of volatile compounds remain in our oceans.

The sites of these munitions are inadequately mapped, in part because of international boundaries, secret armed forces records and the fact that archives are stored in historic archives. They present an explosion and safety risk, as well as risk from the persistent release of hazardous substances.

As Germany and additional nations start extracting these artifacts, experts plan to preserve the marine communities that have formed around them. In the Bay of Lübeck explosives are currently being cleared.

We should substitute these iron structures left from weapons with some more secure, various safe materials, like possibly artificial reefs, says Vedenin.

He presently wishes that what happens in Lübeck establishes a model for substituting structures after explosive extraction in other locations – because including the most harmful weaponry can become framework for new life.