World War II Bombs, Torpedoes and Naval Mines: The Way Marine Life Prosper on Dumped Armaments

In the brackish sea off the Germany's shoreline rests a collection of Nazi bombs, torpedoes and mines. Dumped from barges at the conclusion of the World War II and forgotten about, numerous munitions have fused into clusters over the years. They create a rusting blanket on the low-depth, muddy ocean floor of the Lübeck Bay in the western tip of the Baltic Sea.

Over the decades, the wartime weapons was ignored and neglected. A increasing amount of visitors traveled to the coastal areas and calm waters for jetskiing, kiteboarding and entertainment venues. Underwater, the munitions eroded.

We initially anticipated to see a lifeless zone, with nothing living there because it was all poisoned, explains a scientist.

When the initial researchers went looking to see what they were doing to the marine environment, researchers anticipated finding a barren area, with no life because it was all contaminated, states the lead researcher.

What they observed surprised them. Vedenin recalls his team members reacting with shock when the underwater vehicle first transmitted footage. This was a memorable occasion, he says.

Thousands of marine animals had settled on the explosives, forming a regenerated marine community more populous than the ocean bottom around it.

This ocean community was proof to the resilience of life. Indeed remarkable how much marine organisms we find in locations that are considered hazardous and harmful, he states.

In excess of 40 starfish had clustered on to one exposed chunk of explosive material. They were living on steel casings, fuse pockets and transport cases just centimetres from its dangerous content. Marine fish, crustaceans, anemones and bivalves were all discovered on the historic weapons. It's similar to a reef ecosystem in terms of the amount of creatures that was there, notes Vedenin.

Remarkable Population Density

An mean of more than forty thousand animals were residing on every square metre of the munitions, experts documented in their paper on the finding. The surrounding area was much poorer in life, with only eight thousand organisms on every meter squared.

It is surprising that items that are meant to kill everything are hosting so much life, explains Vedenin. You can see how the natural world evolves after a major disaster such as the World War II and how, in some way, marine life finds its way to the most risky areas.

Artificial Structures as Marine Environments

Man-made constructions such as sunken vessels, offshore windfarms, drilling platforms and pipelines can offer substitutes, restoring some of the removed habitat. This research shows that munitions could be equally advantageous – the explosion of life on those in the Lübeck Bay is expected to be found in different areas.

Between 1946 and the post-war period, 1.6m tons of munitions were discarded off the German coast. Thousands of workers placed them in boats; a portion were placed in allocated areas, the remainder just discarded at sea during transport. This is the initial instance scientists have studied how marine life has reacted.

Global Instances of Marine Transformation

• In the United States, decommissioned energy installations have transformed into coral reefs
• Sunken ships from the first world war have become habitats for wildlife along the Potomac River in Maryland
• Tank tracks that have become environment to coral off Asan beach in the Pacific island

These areas become even more important for wildlife as the seas are increasingly denuded by fishing, seafloor dredging and boat mooring. Shipwrecks and munitions areas practically serve as refuges – they are not official reserves, but virtually any kind of human activity is restricted, says Vedenin. Therefore a many of organisms that are usually uncommon or decreasing, such as the cod fish, are prospering.

Coming Issues

Anywhere armed conflict has taken place in the past 100 years, adjacent waters are often containing munitions, says Vedenin. Many millions of tonnes of explosive material rest in our marine environments.

The locations of these weapons are insufficiently mapped, in part because of national borders, secret armed forces records and the situation that archives are stored in historical records. They pose an detonation and security hazard, as well as danger from the persistent leakage of poisonous compounds.

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

Researchers recommend replace these metal carcasses left from weapons with certain more secure, some harmless structures, like maybe man-made habitats, suggests Vedenin.

He presently hopes that what transpires in Lübeck creates a model for substituting material after weapon clearance in other locations – because also the most destructive armaments can become foundation for new life.