World War II Bombs, Torpedo Heads and Naval Mines: How Ocean Creatures Thrives on Dumped Armaments

In the slightly salty waters off the German coast rests a collection of Nazi bombs, torpedoes and naval mines. Thrown off vessels at the conclusion of the World War II and neglected, countless munitions have accumulated over the decades. They form a decaying carpet on the low-depth, muddy seafloor of the Bay of Lübeck in the western part of the Baltic Sea.

Over the years, the Nazi arsenal was ignored and forgotten about. A increasing amount of tourists flocked to the coastal areas and calm waters for jetskiing, kiteboarding and amusement parks. Beneath the surface, the weapons deteriorated.

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

When the initial researchers went looking to see what they were doing to the marine environment, some of us expected to see a desert, with no life because it was all contaminated, says a scientist.

What they found surprised them. Vedenin recounts his team members exclaiming in amazement when the ROV first sent the images back. This was a great moment, he says.

Thousands of sea creatures had settled on the explosives, forming a regenerated habitat more populous than the ocean bottom nearby.

This underwater metropolis was testament to the tenacity of life. Indeed remarkable how much life we observe in places that are considered toxic and risky, he says.

More than 40 starfish had gathered on to one visible chunk of explosive material. They were living on metal shells, fuse pockets and storage boxes just centimetres from its explosive filling. Fish, crustaceans, anemones and bivalves were all discovered on the historic weapons. You could compare it with a coral reef in terms of the abundance of animal life that was inhabiting the area, says Vedenin.

Surprising Creature Concentration

An mean of more than 40,000 creatures were living on every square metre of the weapons, researchers documented in their study on the observation. The nearby seabed was much sparser, with only 8,000 individuals on every meter squared.

It is surprising that things that are intended to eliminate everything are attracting so much life, says Vedenin. One can observe how the natural world adjusts after a major disaster such as the World War II and how, in some way, marine life establishes itself to the most hazardous locations.

Man-made Features as Ocean Habitats

Artificial features such as shipwrecks, wind turbines, drilling platforms and undersea pipes can offer alternatives, replacing some of the destroyed habitat. This research demonstrates that weapons could be similarly beneficial – the bloom of marine organisms on those in the Lübeck Bay is expected to be repeated in different areas.

Between the late 1940s and the post-war period, 1.6m tons of arms were disposed of off the Germany's shoreline. Thousands of individuals placed them in boats; a portion were placed in specific areas, the remainder just thrown overboard while traveling. This is the first time scientists have recorded how ocean organisms has responded.

Global Examples of Ocean Transformation

• In the United States, decommissioned energy installations have become coral reefs
• Shipwrecks from the World War I have become environments for marine life along the Potomac in Maryland
• Military vehicle parts that have become environment to reef-building organisms off Asan beach in the Pacific island

These areas become even more valuable for marine life as the seas are increasingly depleted by commercial fishing, seafloor dredging and boat mooring. Shipwrecks and explosive disposal locations effectively serve as protected areas – they are not official reserves, but almost any kind of anthropogenic disturbance is restricted, states Vedenin. Therefore a numerous of marine species that are usually rare or declining, such as the Baltic cod, are prospering.

Future Factors

Anywhere military conflict has occurred in the past 100 years, nearby oceans are often littered with explosives, says Vedenin. Many millions of tons of dangerous substances rest in our seas.

The positions of these munitions are inadequately mapped, partly because of national borders, classified armed forces records and the reality that records are hidden in historic archives. They pose an detonation and safety risk, as well as danger from the continuous leakage of poisonous compounds.

As the German government and different states begin removing these remains, scientists hope to protect the ecosystems that have formed nearby. In the Bay of Lübeck explosives are currently being extracted.

It would be wise to replace these iron structures left from munitions with some less dangerous, some non-dangerous materials, like maybe concrete structures, states Vedenin.

He presently aspires that what happens in Lübeck sets a precedent for substituting habitats after explosive extraction in other locations – because even the most harmful explosives can become scaffolding for marine organisms.