World War II Explosives, Torpedoes and Naval Mines: How Ocean Creatures Thrives on Discarded Weapons

In the slightly salty waters off the German coast rests a graveyard of World War II explosives, torpedo heads and naval mines. Thrown off boats at the end of the second world war and neglected, countless explosives have accumulated over the years. They comprise a corroding carpet on the shallow, silty seafloor of the Bay of Lübeck in the western part of the Baltic Sea.

Over the decades, the explosive stockpile was ignored and forgotten about. A growing number of tourists came to the sandy beaches and tranquil sea for water sports, kiteboarding and entertainment venues. Underwater, the weapons eroded.

Some of us expected to see a lifeless zone, with no life because it was all poisoned, explains the lead researcher.

When the initial researchers went searching to see what they were doing to the marine environment, researchers anticipated finding a lifeless zone, with no organisms because it was all toxic, says the lead researcher.

What they found amazed them. Vedenin recounts his colleagues shouting with surprise when the submersible first relayed pictures. This was a great moment, he notes.

Thousands of marine animals had made their homes among the explosives, forming a renewed marine community denser than the sea floor surrounding it.

This ocean community was proof to the tenacity of life. It is actually remarkable how much marine organisms we observe in places that are expected to be hazardous and dangerous, he says.

More than 40 sea stars had gathered on to one exposed chunk of TNT. They were dwelling on metal shells, ignition chambers and storage boxes just a short distance from its volatile core. Marine fish, crustaceans, anemones and mussels were all found on the old munitions. It resembles a marine reef in terms of the abundance of creatures that was there, says Vedenin.

Unexpected Population Density

An average of more than forty thousand organisms were living on every meter squared of the explosives, scientists wrote in their research 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 designed to kill all life are attracting so much life, explains Vedenin. One can observe how nature evolves after a catastrophic event such as the World War II and how, in certain respects, marine life finds its way to the most risky places.

Artificial Features as Ocean Habitats

Artificial structures such as sunken vessels, offshore windfarms, oil rigs and pipelines can provide substitutes, replacing some of the destroyed habitat. This study shows that munitions could be comparably beneficial – the proliferation of life on those in the Lübeck Bay is probable to be repeated in different areas.

Between 1946 and 1948, 1.6 million tons of munitions were discarded off the Germany's shoreline. Countless of workers placed them in vessels; a portion were deposited in specific locations, the remainder just discarded at sea en route. This is the first time scientists have recorded how marine life has adapted.

Worldwide Instances of Ocean Adaptation

• In the United States, decommissioned drilling platforms have transformed into coral reefs
• Submerged vessels from the first world war have become habitats for wildlife along the Potomac River in the state of Maryland
• Tank tracks that have become home to reef-building organisms off Asan beach in Guam

These locations become even more valuable for wildlife as the marine environments are increasingly stripped by fishing, seafloor dredging and anchoring. Shipwrecks and munitions areas practically act as refuges – they are not national parks, but almost any kind of anthropogenic disturbance is prohibited, states Vedenin. Therefore a numerous of organisms that are typically uncommon or diminishing, such as the cod fish, are thriving.

Future Issues

Anywhere military conflict has taken place in the last century, nearby oceans are often littered with weapons, says Vedenin. Millions of tonnes of dangerous substances rest in our oceans.

The positions of these explosives are insufficiently documented, in part because of national borders, restricted military information and the situation that archives are stored in old files. They present an explosion and security risk, as well as risk from the continuous leakage of poisonous compounds.

As the German government and additional nations start removing these remains, researchers plan to protect the habitats that have formed around them. In the Bay of Lübeck weapons are currently being extracted.

It would be wise to substitute these metal carcasses left from weapons with certain safer, various safe structures, like possibly artificial reefs, states Vedenin.

He now wishes that what occurs in the Bay of Lübeck establishes a model for replacing material after explosive extraction elsewhere – because even the most destructive armaments can become foundation for new life.