World War II Bombs, Torpedoes and Mines: How Ocean Creatures Flourishes on Abandoned Weapons

In the brackish sea off the Germany's coast lies a collection of Nazi bombs, torpedoes and mines. Thrown off vessels at the end of the second world war and neglected, thousands munitions have accumulated over the years. They form a rusting blanket on the low-depth, muddy ocean floor of the Lübeck Bay in the western part of the Baltic.

Over the years, the explosive stockpile was ignored and neglected. A increasing amount of visitors flocked to the coastal areas and calm waters for jetskiing, kiteboarding and amusement parks. Underwater, the weapons eroded.

Some of us anticipated to see a lifeless zone, with nothing living there because it was all contaminated, states the lead researcher.

When the initial researchers went looking to see what they were doing to the ecosystem, some of us thought they would find a lifeless zone, with no life because it was all contaminated, states the lead researcher.

What they discovered astonished them. Vedenin remembers his colleagues reacting with shock when the underwater vehicle first transmitted footage. This was a great moment, he recalls.

Countless of ocean life had established habitats among the munitions, forming a regenerated marine community denser than the seabed nearby.

This underwater metropolis was testament to the tenacity of marine life. It is actually remarkable how much life we discover in areas that are considered dangerous and risky, he explains.

Over 40 sea stars had piled on to one visible chunk of TNT. They were residing on steel casings, detonator compartments and storage boxes just centimetres from its dangerous content. Fish, crustaceans, anemones and mussels were all found on the historic weapons. It's similar to a coral reef in terms of the amount of fauna that was there, states Vedenin.

Remarkable Creature Concentration

An average of more than forty thousand animals were dwelling on every meter squared of the weapons, researchers documented in their paper on the observation. The adjacent region was much sparser, with only eight thousand organisms on every meter squared.

It is paradoxical that things that are designed to eliminate all life are attracting so much marine organisms, says Vedenin. One can observe how the natural world evolves after a catastrophic event such as the second world war and how, in certain respects, marine life returns to the most risky locations.

Artificial Structures as Marine Habitats

Artificial structures such as sunken vessels, wind turbines, drilling platforms and undersea pipes can provide alternatives, replacing some of the lost marine environment. This investigation reveals that weapons could be comparably beneficial – the bloom of life on those in the Lübeck Bay is expected to be found elsewhere.

Between 1946 and 1948, 1.6m tonnes of munitions were discarded off the Germany's shoreline. Thousands of individuals placed them in barges; some were deposited in designated locations, the remainder just discarded at sea en route. This is the first time researchers have documented how ocean organisms has reacted.

Global Examples of Marine Adaptation

• In the US, decommissioned energy installations have transformed into coral reefs
• Submerged vessels from the World War I have become environments for creatures along the Potomac in the state of Maryland
• Tank tracks that have become home to coral off Asan in Guam

These locations become even more valuable for organisms as the marine environments are increasingly stripped by fishing, seafloor dredging and anchoring. Sunken ships and munitions areas effectively serve as sanctuaries – they are not official reserves, but virtually any kind of anthropogenic disturbance is prohibited, states Vedenin. Consequently a lot of organisms that are typically rare or declining, such as the cod fish, are thriving.

Future Issues

Anywhere armed conflict has happened in the last century, nearby oceans are typically containing weapons, says Vedenin. Many millions of tons of dangerous substances lie in our marine environments.

The sites of these munitions are inadequately recorded, in part because of international boundaries, restricted defense data and the situation that archives are stored in historical records. They present an explosion and safety hazard, as well as threat from the continuous emission of hazardous substances.

As the German government and different states start removing these remains, experts hope to preserve the habitats that have developed nearby. In the Bay of Lübeck weapons are presently being extracted.

We should replace these metal carcasses left from weapons with certain less dangerous, various non-dangerous materials, like perhaps man-made habitats, suggests Vedenin.

He currently hopes that what occurs in Lübeck creates a model for substituting material after munitions removal in different areas – because even the most destructive weaponry can become foundation for ocean ecosystems.