World War II Explosives, Torpedoes and Naval Mines: The Way Marine Life Prosper on Abandoned Weapons

In the slightly salty waters off the Germany's coast lies a graveyard of World War II explosives, torpedo heads and mines. Thrown off boats at the conclusion of the World War II and neglected, thousands weapons have accumulated over the years. They create a rusting carpet on the shallow, silty ocean floor of the Bay of Lübeck in the western part of the Baltic Sea.

Over the years, the Nazi arsenal was ignored and neglected. A increasing amount of tourists came to the coastal areas and tranquil sea for jetskiing, kite surfing and entertainment venues. Beneath the surface, the weapons eroded.

Researchers expected to see a desert, with nothing living there because it was all toxic, says Andrey Vedenin.

When the team went investigating to see what they were affecting to the ecosystem, some of us expected to see a desert, with nothing living there because it was all toxic, says a scientist.

What they found astonished them. Vedenin recounts his team members reacting with shock when the underwater vehicle first transmitted footage. This was a remarkable experience, he notes.

Numerous of sea creatures had established habitats on the weapons, creating a revitalized ecosystem richer than the seabed surrounding it.

This underwater metropolis was testament to the tenacity of life. Truly surprising how much marine organisms we find in locations that are supposed to be dangerous and risky, he explains.

Over 40 sea stars had gathered on to one accessible fragment of explosive material. They were residing on iron containers, ignition chambers and storage boxes just a short distance from its dangerous content. Fish, crabs, anemones and bivalves were all observed on the historic weapons. You could compare it with a marine reef in terms of the quantity of creatures that was present, says Vedenin.

Surprising Population Density

An mean of more than forty thousand animals were residing on every meter squared of the weapons, scientists wrote in their study on the discovery. The adjacent region was much less diverse, with only 8,000 individuals on every square metre.

It is paradoxical that items that are designed to destroy all life are hosting so much marine organisms, states Vedenin. You can see how the natural world evolves after a devastating occurrence such as the World War II and how, in some way, marine life establishes itself to the most dangerous locations.

Artificial Structures as Marine Habitats

Artificial structures such as sunken vessels, wind turbines, drilling platforms and pipelines can provide alternatives, compensating for some of the destroyed marine environment. This study reveals that weapons could be comparably beneficial – the proliferation of marine organisms on those in the Lübeck Bay is probable to be found in other locations.

Between the late 1940s and 1948, 1.6 million tons of weapons were disposed of off the German shoreline. Numerous of workers placed them in boats; a portion were placed in allocated sites, others just discarded at sea while traveling. This is the initial instance experts have recorded how marine life has responded.

Global Instances of Ocean Adaptation

• In the United States, decommissioned energy installations have transformed into reef ecosystems
• Sunken ships from the World War I have become environments for marine life along the Potomac River in the state of Maryland
• Tank tracks that have become home to reef-building organisms off Asan in the Pacific island

These places become even more important for wildlife as the marine environments are increasingly stripped by fishing, bottom trawling and anchoring. Sunken ships and explosive disposal locations essentially function as protected areas – they are not national parks, but almost any kind of human activity is banned, states Vedenin. Therefore a numerous of species that are typically rare or diminishing, such as the cod fish, are flourishing.

Future Considerations

Anywhere warfare has happened in the recent history, surrounding seas are often containing explosives, says Vedenin. Many millions of tonnes of dangerous substances rest in our marine environments.

The positions of these munitions are poorly recorded, partially because of sovereign limits, restricted military information and the reality that records are buried in historical records. They pose an detonation and security hazard, as well as threat from the persistent leakage of poisonous compounds.

As Germany and other countries embark on removing these relics, researchers plan to safeguard the ecosystems that have developed in their vicinity. In the Lübeck Bay munitions are currently being extracted.

Researchers recommend replace these iron structures remaining from weapons with certain more secure, some safe materials, like possibly concrete structures, states Vedenin.

He currently aspires that what transpires in the Bay of Lübeck sets a model for substituting habitats after weapon clearance in other locations – because also the most damaging explosives can become foundation for ocean ecosystems.