World War II Bombs, Torpedo Heads and Mines: The Way Ocean Creatures Prosper on Abandoned Weapons

In the slightly salty sea off the Germany's shoreline rests a wasteland of World War II explosives, torpedo heads and naval mines. Discarded from vessels at the end of the World War II and forgotten about, countless weapons have become matted together over the decades. They comprise a decaying carpet on the shallow, silty seafloor of the Lübeck Bay in the western part of the Baltic Sea.

Over the decades, the explosive stockpile was overlooked and forgotten about. A growing number of visitors came to the sandy beaches and tranquil sea for jetskiing, kite surfing and amusement parks. Below the waves, the munitions deteriorated.

We initially expected to see a desert, with nothing living there because it was all contaminated, says the lead researcher.

When the first scientists went searching to see what they were doing to the marine environment, researchers thought they would find a desert, with no organisms because it was all toxic, says the lead researcher.

What they found amazed them. Vedenin recounts his team members shouting with surprise when the underwater vehicle first sent the images back. It was a memorable occasion, he notes.

Countless of sea creatures had settled among the explosives, forming a revitalized habitat richer than the seabed nearby.

This marine city was proof to the tenacity of life. It is actually surprising how much life we find in places that are supposed to be hazardous and harmful, he states.

Over 40 starfish had gathered on to one exposed piece of TNT. They were dwelling on iron containers, detonator compartments and transport cases just centimetres from its explosive filling. Marine fish, crabs, anemones and bivalves were all found on the discarded explosives. You could compare it with a coral reef in terms of the amount of creatures that was there, states Vedenin.

Remarkable Population Density

An mean of more than 40,000 animals were living on every square metre of the weapons, scientists reported in their research on the observation. The nearby seabed was much sparser, with only 8,000 individuals on every square metre.

It is surprising that objects that are designed to eliminate all life are attracting so much marine organisms, states Vedenin. It's evident how nature adapts after a catastrophic event such as the second world war and how, in certain respects, life establishes itself to the most dangerous places.

Man-made Structures as Marine Environments

Man-made constructions such as shipwrecks, offshore windfarms, drilling platforms and undersea pipes can provide substitutes, compensating for some of the destroyed marine environment. This investigation demonstrates that weapons could be comparably beneficial – the explosion of marine organisms on those in the Bay of Lübeck is likely to be duplicated in other locations.

Between 1946 and the post-war period, 1.6m tonnes of weapons were discarded off the Germany's shoreline. Thousands of individuals transported them in vessels; a portion were placed in allocated locations, the remainder just thrown overboard en route. This is the initial instance experts have documented how marine life has responded.

Global Examples of Ocean Transformation

• In the United States, retired oil and gas structures have turned into marine habitats
• Submerged vessels from the first world war have become habitats for wildlife along the Potomac River in Maryland
• Military vehicle parts that have become habitat to reef-building organisms off Asan beach in Guam

These areas become even more valuable for organisms as the marine environments are increasingly denuded by commercial fishing, bottom trawling and anchoring. Sunken ships and munitions areas practically function as protected areas – they are not national parks, but nearly any kind of human activity is prohibited, says Vedenin. As a result a many of organisms that are typically scarce or decreasing, such as the Baltic cod, are flourishing.

Future Considerations

Anywhere warfare has taken place in the recent history, adjacent waters are usually littered with munitions, states Vedenin. Millions of tons of dangerous substances lie in our oceans.

The locations of these weapons are poorly mapped, partly because of international boundaries, classified defense data and the reality that records are hidden in historical records. They present an detonation and security danger, as well as danger from the ongoing release of hazardous substances.

As the German government and other countries start extracting these remains, experts plan to preserve the habitats that have established in their vicinity. In the Lübeck Bay munitions are already being extracted.

It would be wise to replace these metal carcasses remaining from weapons with certain less dangerous, some non-dangerous materials, like perhaps artificial reefs, says Vedenin.

He presently aspires that what happens in the Bay of Lübeck establishes a example for replacing material after weapon clearance elsewhere – because also the most damaging armaments can become foundation for ocean ecosystems.