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

In the brackish waters off the German coast lies a collection of World War II explosives, torpedo heads and naval mines. Discarded from boats at the conclusion of the second world war and neglected, thousands weapons have accumulated over the decades. They create a corroding layer on the low-depth, muddy ocean floor of the Bay of Lübeck in the western part of the Baltic Sea.

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

Researchers thought to see a barren area, with no organisms because it was all contaminated, explains a scientist.

When the team went looking to see what they were doing to the ecosystem, the team thought they would find a desert, with nothing living there because it was all toxic, explains a scientist.

What they discovered amazed them. Vedenin remembers his scientists exclaiming in amazement when the underwater vehicle first sent the images back. That moment was a memorable occasion, he recalls.

Thousands of sea creatures had established habitats on the weapons, developing a renewed habitat richer than the seabed surrounding it.

This ocean community was proof to the tenacity of life. It is actually astonishing how much marine organisms we find in areas that are considered toxic and dangerous, he states.

In excess of 40 sea stars had gathered on to one accessible fragment of TNT. They were residing on metal shells, fuse pockets and transport cases just a short distance from its explosive filling. Marine fish, crustaceans, anemones and bivalves were all discovered on the old munitions. It's similar to a marine reef in terms of the abundance of animal life that was present, notes Vedenin.

Unexpected Creature Concentration

An average of more than 40,000 animals were residing on every square metre of the explosives, researchers documented in their study on the discovery. The surrounding area was much poorer in life, with only 8,000 individuals on every meter squared.

It is paradoxical that items that are intended to destroy everything are hosting so much marine organisms, states Vedenin. One can observe how nature evolves after a devastating occurrence such as the World War II and how, in certain respects, marine life returns to the most dangerous areas.

Artificial Features as Ocean Habitats

Man-made features such as sunken vessels, offshore windfarms, drilling platforms and pipelines can provide replacements, compensating for some of the removed habitat. This study reveals that munitions could be equally beneficial – the proliferation of life on those in the Bay of Lübeck is expected to be found in other locations.

Between 1946 and 1948, 1.6m tonnes of munitions were disposed of off the Germany's shoreline. Thousands of workers placed them in vessels; some were dropped in specific locations, the remainder just discarded at sea while traveling. This is the initial instance researchers have studied how ocean organisms has responded.

Worldwide Examples of Marine Transformation

• In the US, decommissioned energy installations have turned into coral reefs
• Submerged vessels from the first world war have become environments for wildlife along the Potomac River in Maryland
• Military vehicle parts that have become habitat to reef-building organisms off Asan beach in Guam

These places become even more crucial for marine life as the seas are increasingly stripped by commercial fishing, bottom trawling and anchoring. Shipwrecks and explosive disposal locations essentially function as refuges – they are not national parks, but virtually any kind of human activity is banned, says Vedenin. Consequently a many of marine species that are otherwise scarce or declining, such as the Baltic cod, are prospering.

Future Factors

Anywhere armed conflict has happened in the past 100 years, adjacent waters are typically containing explosives, says Vedenin. Many millions of tonnes of volatile compounds remain in our seas.

The sites of these munitions are insufficiently mapped, partly because of national borders, restricted military information and the reality that documents are stored in historic archives. They create an explosion and security risk, as well as danger from the continuous leakage of poisonous compounds.

As the German government and other countries start clearing these remains, experts plan to safeguard the marine communities that have developed nearby. In the Lübeck Bay weapons are presently being cleared.

We should substitute these steel remains left from weapons with some safer, various harmless structures, like maybe man-made habitats, says Vedenin.

He currently aspires that what happens in the Bay of Lübeck establishes a precedent for substituting habitats after weapon clearance elsewhere – because even the most harmful armaments can become framework for new life.