World War II Bombs, Torpedoes and Mines: The Way Ocean Creatures Flourishes on Discarded Armaments

In the slightly salty sea off the German coast rests a collection of Nazi bombs, torpedoes and naval mines. Dumped from boats at the end of the World War II and left behind, countless munitions have accumulated over the decades. They comprise a rusting carpet on the low-depth, muddy seafloor of the Lübeck Bay in the western tip of the Baltic Sea.

Over the decades, the wartime weapons was ignored and forgotten about. A growing number of tourists came to the sandy beaches and calm waters for jetskiing, kite surfing and entertainment venues. Below the waves, the weapons decayed.

Some of us expected to see a lifeless zone, with no organisms because it was all toxic, explains a scientist.

When the team went looking to see what they were doing to the ecosystem, the team expected to see a desert, with no life because it was all poisoned, states the lead researcher.

What they discovered surprised them. Vedenin recalls his colleagues reacting with shock when the underwater vehicle first sent the images back. That moment was a great moment, he recalls.

Thousands of marine animals had established habitats amid the weapons, forming a regenerated ecosystem more populous than the ocean bottom around it.

This underwater metropolis was evidence to the resilience of life. It is actually remarkable how much marine organisms we find in locations that are expected to be toxic and harmful, he says.

In excess of 40 starfish had gathered on to one exposed chunk of explosive material. They were residing on metal shells, ignition chambers and carrying containers just centimetres from its volatile core. Marine fish, crustaceans, anemones and mussels were all observed on the old munitions. It's similar to a marine reef in terms of the abundance of creatures that was present, states Vedenin.

Surprising Population Density

An average of more than 40,000 creatures were residing on every meter squared of the munitions, researchers documented in their study on the observation. The surrounding area was much less diverse, with only 8,000 creatures on every meter squared.

It is paradoxical that objects that are designed to destroy all life are drawing so much life, says Vedenin. You can see how the natural world adapts after a major disaster such as the World War II and how, in some way, marine life establishes itself to the most hazardous places.

Man-made Structures as Marine Habitats

Artificial constructions such as sunken vessels, wind turbines, oil rigs and pipelines can offer alternatives, restoring some of the removed habitat. This investigation demonstrates that munitions could be equally beneficial – the explosion of life on those in the Lübeck Bay is likely to be found in other locations.

Between the late 1940s and the post-war period, 1.6m tons of weapons were disposed of off the Germany's coast. Countless of people transported them in boats; some were deposited in specific areas, others just thrown overboard while traveling. This is the first time experts have documented how ocean organisms has responded.

Global Instances of Ocean Transformation

• In the United States, retired drilling platforms have turned into reef ecosystems
• Shipwrecks from the first world war have become environments for wildlife along the Potomac in the state of Maryland
• Military vehicle parts that have become home to coral off Asan in Guam

These areas become even more important for organisms as the seas are increasingly denuded by commercial fishing, bottom trawling and boat mooring. Sunken ships and munitions areas practically act as refuges – they are not national parks, but almost any kind of anthropogenic disturbance is prohibited, states Vedenin. Consequently a numerous of organisms that are usually scarce or decreasing, such as the cod fish, are prospering.

Future Considerations

Anywhere armed conflict has happened in the last century, adjacent waters are typically littered with munitions, states Vedenin. Many millions of tons of dangerous substances rest in our oceans.

The locations of these weapons are inadequately mapped, in part because of sovereign limits, restricted military information and the reality that documents are hidden in historical records. They pose an explosion and security danger, as well as danger from the persistent release of hazardous substances.

As Germany and other countries begin removing these relics, scientists plan to preserve the habitats that have developed around them. In the Lübeck Bay explosives are presently being cleared.

We should substitute these iron structures remaining from weapons with certain less dangerous, various harmless structures, like possibly man-made habitats, says Vedenin.

He presently hopes that what occurs in Lübeck establishes a precedent for substituting habitats after weapon clearance in different areas – because also the most destructive weaponry can become scaffolding for ocean ecosystems.