World War II Munitions, Torpedo Heads and Mines: How Marine Life Prosper on Discarded Weapons

In the brackish waters off the Germany's coast lies a collection of World War II explosives, torpedo heads and mines. Discarded from vessels at the end of the World War II and neglected, countless munitions have fused into clusters over the decades. They form a corroding layer on the low-depth, silty ocean floor of the Bay of Lübeck in the western tip of the Baltic Sea.

Over the decades, the explosive stockpile was overlooked and neglected. A increasing amount of visitors traveled to the sandy beaches and calm waters for water sports, kiteboarding and entertainment venues. Beneath the surface, the munitions eroded.

Researchers thought to see a barren area, with no organisms because it was all contaminated, says the lead researcher.

When the team went searching to see what they were doing to the marine environment, the team thought they would find a lifeless zone, with nothing living there because it was all contaminated, states the lead researcher.

What they observed surprised them. Vedenin recalls his team members shouting with surprise when the submersible first sent the images back. That moment was a memorable occasion, he notes.

Thousands of marine animals had settled amid the explosives, developing a renewed marine community more populous than the ocean bottom nearby.

This ocean community was proof to the tenacity of marine life. Indeed surprising how much life we discover in areas that are considered hazardous and risky, he says.

Over 40 starfish had clustered on to one exposed fragment of explosive material. They were dwelling on steel casings, fuse pockets and storage boxes just centimetres from its dangerous content. Marine fish, crustaceans, anemones and mussels were all discovered on the historic weapons. It's similar to a reef ecosystem in terms of the amount of fauna that was present, states Vedenin.

Surprising Creature Concentration

An mean of more than 40,000 creatures were living on every meter squared of the explosives, experts wrote in their paper on the discovery. The surrounding area was much less diverse, with only eight thousand organisms on every square metre.

It is paradoxical that items that are intended to kill everything are attracting so much life, says Vedenin. One can observe how the natural world adjusts after a devastating occurrence such as the World War II and how, in certain respects, life returns to the most risky locations.

Artificial Structures as Marine Habitats

Man-made features such as shipwrecks, wind turbines, oil rigs and pipelines can offer alternatives, compensating for some of the removed habitat. This investigation reveals that munitions could be similarly beneficial – the bloom of life on those in the Lübeck Bay is probable to be duplicated in different areas.

Between the late 1940s and the post-war period, 1.6m tons of weapons were discarded off the Germany's coast. Thousands of people loaded them in barges; some were deposited in allocated areas, others just thrown overboard en route. This is the first time experts have documented how ocean organisms has adapted.

Worldwide Examples of Ocean Transformation

• In the United States, decommissioned oil and gas structures have transformed into coral reefs
• Shipwrecks from the World War I have become habitats for marine life along the Potomac River in the state of Maryland
• Military vehicle parts that have become home to reef-building organisms off Asan beach in the Pacific island

These areas become even more crucial for wildlife as the oceans are increasingly depleted by fishing, bottom trawling and boat mooring. Shipwrecks and munitions areas effectively act as protected areas – they are not national parks, but nearly any kind of human activity is banned, says Vedenin. As a result a numerous of marine species that are usually uncommon or diminishing, such as the Baltic cod, are flourishing.

Coming Factors

Anywhere military conflict has occurred in the last century, adjacent waters are typically littered with munitions, explains Vedenin. Millions of tonnes of explosive material rest in our oceans.

The locations of these explosives are poorly recorded, partially because of sovereign limits, restricted armed forces records and the fact that archives are buried in historical records. They create an detonation and security hazard, as well as danger from the ongoing emission of toxic chemicals.

As the German government and other countries start clearing these remains, scientists hope to safeguard the ecosystems that have formed in their vicinity. In the Lübeck Bay munitions are currently being cleared.

We should substitute these metal carcasses remaining from munitions with some safer, various safe objects, like perhaps man-made habitats, suggests Vedenin.

He now aspires that what occurs in Lübeck creates a model for replacing material after weapon clearance in different areas – because even the most harmful explosives can become foundation for new life.