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

In the slightly salty sea off the Germany's coast lies a wasteland of World War II explosives, torpedoes and naval mines. Dumped from vessels at the conclusion of the World War II and forgotten about, countless explosives have accumulated over the decades. They create a decaying layer on the low-depth, silty seafloor of the Lübeck Bay in the western tip of the Baltic.

Over the years, the explosive stockpile was ignored and forgotten about. A growing number of visitors came to the sandy beaches and tranquil sea for water sports, kite surfing and entertainment venues. Beneath the surface, the weapons deteriorated.

Some of us thought to see a desert, with no life because it was all contaminated, explains Andrey Vedenin.

When the initial researchers went searching to see what they were doing to the ecosystem, some of us anticipated finding a lifeless zone, with nothing living there because it was all toxic, states a scientist.

What they found amazed them. Vedenin recalls his scientists exclaiming in amazement when the underwater vehicle first sent the images back. This was a remarkable experience, he recalls.

Countless of sea creatures had settled on the weapons, creating a renewed habitat richer than the sea floor around it.

This ocean community was proof to the resilience of marine life. It is actually surprising how much life we observe in places that are expected to be toxic and harmful, he says.

In excess of 40 starfish had clustered on to one accessible chunk of TNT. They were dwelling on iron containers, ignition chambers and carrying containers just a short distance from its dangerous content. Marine fish, crustaceans, sea anemones and bivalves were all found on the historic weapons. It's similar to a coral reef in terms of the abundance of fauna that was inhabiting the area, notes Vedenin.

Surprising Creature Concentration

An mean of more than 40,000 organisms were dwelling on every meter squared of the weapons, scientists wrote in their research on the finding. The surrounding area was much sparser, with only eight thousand individuals on every meter squared.

It is surprising that things that are intended to destroy everything are attracting 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, marine life returns to the most hazardous locations.

Man-made Features as Ocean Habitats

Man-made features such as sunken vessels, wind turbines, drilling platforms and undersea pipes can provide substitutes, replacing some of the removed marine environment. This investigation reveals that weapons could be equally advantageous – the bloom of marine organisms on those in the Bay of Lübeck is probable to be repeated in different areas.

Between the late 1940s and 1948, 1.6m tonnes of arms were dumped off the Germany's coast. Numerous of people placed them in boats; some were deposited in specific locations, the remainder just discarded at sea during transport. This is the first time scientists have documented how marine life has reacted.

Worldwide Instances of Ocean Adaptation

• In the US, decommissioned drilling platforms have transformed into coral reefs
• Sunken ships from the first world war have become habitats for wildlife along the Potomac River in the state of Maryland
• Military vehicle parts that have become environment to reef-building organisms off Asan beach in the Pacific island

These areas become even more important for organisms as the oceans are increasingly stripped by commercial fishing, bottom trawling and anchoring. Sunken ships and weapons dump sites effectively function as sanctuaries – they are not national parks, but virtually any kind of human activity is prohibited, explains Vedenin. Therefore a lot of organisms that are typically rare or diminishing, such as the Baltic cod, are flourishing.

Future Considerations

Wherever armed conflict has occurred in the recent history, nearby oceans are usually strewn with weapons, states Vedenin. Many millions of tons of explosive material remain in our marine environments.

The positions of these explosives are insufficiently recorded, in part because of national borders, classified armed forces records and the reality that archives are stored in historic archives. They create an detonation and safety hazard, as well as threat from the continuous emission of poisonous compounds.

As Germany and additional nations begin removing these artifacts, researchers plan to safeguard the ecosystems that have developed nearby. In the Bay of Lübeck weapons are currently being cleared.

We should substitute these steel remains remaining from weapons with some safer, some harmless structures, like maybe artificial reefs, says Vedenin.

He currently hopes that what transpires in the Bay of Lübeck establishes a precedent for substituting material after explosive extraction in different areas – because also the most destructive armaments can become foundation for marine organisms.