World War II Explosives, Torpedo Heads and Naval Mines: The Way Ocean Creatures Prosper on Dumped Armaments

In the brackish sea off the Germany's coast rests a collection of Nazi bombs, torpedoes and naval mines. Dumped from barges at the conclusion of the World War II and forgotten about, numerous weapons have fused into clusters over the years. They form a rusting layer on the low-depth, silty ocean floor of the Lübeck Bay in the western part of the Baltic Sea.

Over the years, the wartime weapons was ignored and forgotten about. A increasing amount of visitors came to the coastal areas and tranquil sea for jetskiing, kite surfing and entertainment venues. Below the waves, the weapons eroded.

We initially expected to see a lifeless zone, with nothing living there because it was all contaminated, explains a scientist.

When the initial researchers went investigating to see what they were affecting to the ecosystem, the team expected to see a desert, with nothing living there because it was all toxic, states the lead researcher.

What they discovered surprised them. Vedenin remembers his team members reacting with shock when the submersible first sent the images back. This was a great moment, he recalls.

Numerous of ocean life had made their homes amid the munitions, developing a revitalized ecosystem richer than the sea floor around it.

This marine city was proof to the persistence of marine life. Truly astonishing how much life we observe in areas that are supposed to be dangerous and harmful, he explains.

In excess of 40 starfish had piled on to one exposed fragment of explosive material. They were living on iron containers, detonator compartments and carrying containers just centimetres from its explosive filling. Marine fish, crustaceans, sea anemones and mussels were all observed on the historic weapons. It resembles a reef ecosystem in terms of the quantity of fauna that was inhabiting the area, notes Vedenin.

Unexpected Creature Concentration

An average of more than 40,000 animals were residing on every meter squared of the munitions, scientists documented in their paper on the discovery. The adjacent region was much poorer in life, with only 8,000 creatures on every meter squared.

It is surprising that items that are meant to destroy all life are drawing so much life, states Vedenin. One can observe how the natural world adapts after a catastrophic event such as the second world war and how, in certain respects, marine life returns to the most dangerous areas.

Man-made Features as Marine Environments

Man-made features such as sunken vessels, wind turbines, drilling platforms and pipelines can create alternatives, restoring some of the lost habitat. This investigation reveals that weapons could be comparably beneficial – the proliferation of life on those in the Bay of Lübeck is expected to be found in other locations.

Between 1946 and 1948, 1.6 million tons of weapons were disposed of off the German coast. Numerous of people loaded them in vessels; a portion were dropped in designated areas, others just thrown overboard during transport. This is the first time scientists have recorded how marine life has adapted.

Global Examples of Ocean Transformation

• In the US, decommissioned oil and gas structures have become coral reefs
• Sunken ships from the first world war have become environments for creatures along the Potomac in the state of Maryland
• Tank tracks that have become habitat to reef-building organisms off Asan in the Pacific island

These locations become even more valuable for wildlife as the oceans are increasingly denuded by fishing, bottom trawling and boat mooring. Sunken ships and weapons dump sites essentially act as protected areas – they are not national parks, but virtually any kind of anthropogenic disturbance is restricted, says Vedenin. As a result a many of marine species that are otherwise rare or declining, such as the cod fish, are flourishing.

Coming Considerations

Anywhere military conflict has occurred in the last century, surrounding seas are often containing weapons, explains Vedenin. Millions of tons of volatile compounds remain in our oceans.

The positions of these explosives are poorly recorded, in part because of national borders, restricted military information and the situation that archives are buried in historic archives. They present an explosion and security hazard, as well as risk from the persistent release of poisonous compounds.

As the German government and additional nations start removing these relics, scientists aim to safeguard the marine communities that have formed nearby. In the Bay of Lübeck weapons are presently being removed.

Researchers recommend substitute these steel remains originating from weapons with certain less dangerous, various harmless materials, like perhaps man-made habitats, suggests Vedenin.

He presently hopes that what occurs in the Bay of Lübeck creates a precedent for replacing material after weapon clearance elsewhere – because even the most destructive weaponry can become framework for ocean ecosystems.