World War II Munitions, Torpedoes and Naval Mines: How Marine Life Thrives on Abandoned Weapons

In the brackish sea off the Germany's coast rests a wasteland of World War II explosives, torpedoes and mines. Discarded from vessels at the end of the second world war and neglected, numerous munitions have become matted together over the years. They form a decaying carpet on the shallow, silty seafloor of the Lübeck Bay in the western part of the Baltic.

Over the decades, the wartime weapons was ignored and forgotten about. A increasing amount of tourists traveled to the sandy beaches and calm waters for jetskiing, kite surfing and entertainment venues. Underwater, the weapons decayed.

We initially anticipated to see a barren area, with no life because it was all toxic, states Andrey Vedenin.

When the initial researchers went investigating to see what they were affecting to the marine environment, researchers expected to see a barren area, with no organisms because it was all contaminated, says a scientist.

What they found amazed them. Vedenin recalls his team members exclaiming in amazement when the ROV first relayed pictures. It was a great moment, he notes.

Thousands of sea creatures had established habitats on the weapons, developing a regenerated marine community denser than the ocean bottom surrounding it.

This marine city was testament to the persistence of marine life. Indeed astonishing how much life we find in places that are supposed to be dangerous and harmful, he says.

More than 40 sea stars had gathered on to one exposed piece of explosive material. They were dwelling on metal shells, ignition chambers and storage boxes just a short distance from its volatile core. Fish, crustaceans, anemones and mussels were all discovered on the historic weapons. It resembles a reef ecosystem in terms of the amount of fauna that was present, notes Vedenin.

Surprising Creature Concentration

An average of more than 40,000 creatures were living on every meter squared of the explosives, experts reported in their research on the observation. The surrounding area was much sparser, with only 8,000 organisms on every meter squared.

It is surprising that objects that are meant to destroy everything are drawing so much life, says Vedenin. One can observe how the natural world adapts after a devastating occurrence such as the second world war and how, in certain respects, life finds its way to the most dangerous areas.

Artificial Features as Marine Habitats

Artificial constructions such as shipwrecks, wind turbines, drilling platforms and pipelines can offer alternatives, compensating for some of the destroyed habitat. This study demonstrates that weapons could be equally advantageous – the bloom of marine organisms on those in the Bay of Lübeck is probable to be repeated in other locations.

Between the late 1940s and the post-war period, 1.6 million tons of munitions were dumped off the Germany's coast. Thousands of people transported them in vessels; a portion were deposited in designated sites, others just dumped en route. This is the first time experts have studied how marine life has reacted.

Worldwide Examples of Marine Transformation

• In the US, decommissioned energy installations have transformed into reef ecosystems
• Sunken ships from the first world war have become homes for wildlife along the Potomac River in the state of Maryland
• Tank tracks that have become environment to reef-building organisms off Asan beach in Guam

These areas become even more important for marine life as the seas are increasingly depleted by commercial fishing, seafloor dredging and boat mooring. Sunken ships and weapons dump sites practically function as refuges – they are not national parks, but virtually any kind of human activity is prohibited, states Vedenin. Consequently a numerous of marine species that are usually rare or diminishing, such as the cod fish, are flourishing.

Future Issues

Wherever military conflict has occurred in the recent history, nearby oceans are usually strewn with explosives, says Vedenin. Many millions of tons of explosive material lie in our seas.

The locations of these munitions are inadequately documented, partially because of sovereign limits, restricted military information and the fact that archives are buried in historic archives. They pose an explosion and security risk, as well as danger from the continuous emission of poisonous compounds.

As Germany and different states begin clearing these relics, experts hope to protect the habitats that have established in their vicinity. In the Lübeck Bay weapons are presently being cleared.

Researchers recommend substitute these iron structures left from weapons with some less dangerous, various harmless objects, like perhaps concrete structures, states Vedenin.

He now wishes that what transpires in Lübeck establishes a precedent for substituting habitats after explosive extraction elsewhere – because even the most destructive weaponry can become foundation for ocean ecosystems.