World War II Munitions, Torpedo Heads and Naval Mines: The Way Ocean Creatures Prosper on Discarded Weapons

In the slightly salty waters off the German shoreline lies a collection of World War II explosives, torpedo heads and mines. Thrown off barges at the end of the World War II and neglected, countless weapons have fused into clusters over the years. They comprise a rusting carpet on the shallow, silty seafloor of the Lübeck Bay in the western tip of the Baltic.

Over the years, the explosive stockpile was ignored and forgotten about. A growing number of tourists flocked to the coastal areas and tranquil sea for water sports, kiteboarding and entertainment venues. Underwater, the weapons deteriorated.

Researchers expected to see a barren area, with no life because it was all contaminated, says a scientist.

When the first scientists went investigating to see what they were doing to the marine environment, the team anticipated finding a lifeless zone, with no life because it was all toxic, states a scientist.

What they observed amazed them. Vedenin recounts his colleagues shouting with surprise when the submersible first transmitted footage. It was a remarkable experience, he notes.

Thousands of sea creatures had settled amid the munitions, forming a regenerated ecosystem richer than the ocean bottom surrounding it.

This underwater metropolis was testament to the persistence of life. Indeed astonishing how much life we find in locations that are expected to be toxic and risky, he says.

In excess of 40 starfish had piled on to one exposed fragment of explosive material. They were residing on iron containers, detonator compartments and storage boxes just centimetres from its volatile core. Fish, crabs, anemones and mussels were all found on the discarded explosives. It's similar to a coral reef in terms of the amount of fauna that was inhabiting the area, states Vedenin.

Remarkable Population Density

An mean of more than 40,000 creatures were dwelling on every meter squared of the munitions, experts wrote in their research on the observation. The nearby seabed was much poorer in life, with only 8,000 organisms on every meter squared.

It is ironic that things that are meant to kill everything are drawing so much marine organisms, says Vedenin. It's evident how the natural world evolves after a devastating occurrence such as the World War II and how, in some way, marine life finds its way to the most dangerous places.

Man-made Features as Ocean Habitats

Man-made structures such as sunken vessels, wind turbines, drilling platforms and pipelines can offer replacements, restoring some of the destroyed marine environment. This investigation shows that munitions could be similarly positive – the bloom of life on those in the Lübeck Bay is likely to be repeated in different areas.

Between 1946 and 1948, 1.6m tons of munitions were disposed of off the German shoreline. Thousands of individuals loaded them in barges; some were deposited in specific sites, the remainder just thrown overboard while traveling. This is the initial instance experts have recorded how marine life has adapted.

Worldwide Examples of Marine Transformation

• In the US, decommissioned oil and gas structures have transformed into coral reefs
• Shipwrecks from the first world war have become homes for creatures along the Potomac in Maryland
• Tank tracks that have become home to coral off Asan beach in Guam

These places become even more crucial for organisms as the marine environments are increasingly stripped by commercial fishing, seafloor dredging and boat mooring. Sunken ships and munitions areas effectively serve as protected areas – they are not official reserves, but almost any kind of human activity is prohibited, says Vedenin. As a result a lot of organisms that are usually rare or declining, such as the cod fish, are thriving.

Future Considerations

Anywhere military conflict has occurred in the recent history, nearby oceans are often containing explosives, states Vedenin. Many millions of tonnes of dangerous substances rest in our oceans.

The locations of these weapons are inadequately documented, in part because of sovereign limits, classified armed forces records and the fact that records are stored in historic archives. They create an explosion and security danger, as well as risk from the continuous emission of poisonous compounds.

As Germany and other countries start removing these artifacts, experts plan to safeguard the habitats that have established nearby. In the Bay of Lübeck weapons are presently being extracted.

It would be wise to replace these steel remains remaining from munitions with some more secure, various safe materials, like maybe artificial reefs, says Vedenin.

He now wishes that what occurs in the Bay of Lübeck sets a precedent for substituting material after explosive extraction elsewhere – because even the most harmful explosives can become foundation for ocean ecosystems.