World War II Munitions, Torpedoes and Naval Mines: How Ocean Creatures Thrives on Dumped Weapons

In the brackish waters off the German coast rests a wasteland of World War II explosives, torpedo heads and naval mines. Discarded from vessels at the end of the second world war and forgotten about, countless munitions have fused into clusters over the years. They comprise a corroding carpet on the shallow, muddy ocean floor of the Bay of Lübeck in the western part of the Baltic Sea.

Over the decades, the Nazi arsenal was overlooked and neglected. A increasing amount of visitors traveled to the coastal areas and calm waters for jetskiing, kiteboarding and entertainment venues. Beneath the surface, the weapons eroded.

Some of us expected to see a lifeless zone, with nothing living there because it was all contaminated, says a scientist.

When the first scientists went investigating to see what they were doing to the ecosystem, the team anticipated finding a barren area, with nothing living there because it was all toxic, explains the lead researcher.

What they observed surprised them. Vedenin remembers his scientists reacting with shock when the underwater vehicle first relayed pictures. It was a memorable occasion, he recalls.

Countless of ocean life had settled among the munitions, creating a renewed habitat richer than the seabed nearby.

This ocean community was proof to the resilience of life. Indeed remarkable how much life we discover in areas that are supposed to be toxic and risky, he states.

Over 40 sea stars had piled on to one exposed fragment of explosive material. They were residing on steel casings, fuse pockets and carrying containers just a short distance from its volatile core. Fish, crabs, sea anemones and bivalves were all found on the discarded explosives. It resembles a coral reef in terms of the abundance of fauna that was present, notes Vedenin.

Unexpected Creature Concentration

An mean of more than forty thousand organisms were residing on every square metre of the weapons, scientists reported in their study on the observation. The adjacent region was much poorer in life, with only 8,000 organisms on every meter squared.

It is surprising that objects that are designed to destroy all life are attracting so much life, states Vedenin. One can observe how the natural world adjusts after a major disaster such as the World War II and how, in certain respects, life finds its way to the most risky locations.

Artificial Structures as Ocean Environments

Artificial features such as sunken vessels, offshore windfarms, oil rigs and pipelines can create replacements, replacing some of the lost marine environment. This research shows that munitions could be equally advantageous – the bloom of marine organisms on those in the Lübeck Bay is probable to be duplicated in other locations.

Between the late 1940s and the post-war period, 1.6m tons of munitions were disposed of off the German shoreline. Numerous of workers loaded them in boats; some were dropped in allocated sites, the remainder just dumped while traveling. This is the initial instance experts have studied how marine life has adapted.

Worldwide Examples of Ocean Transformation

• In the United States, retired drilling platforms have turned into reef ecosystems
• Sunken ships from the first world war have become environments for creatures along the Potomac River in the state of Maryland
• Military vehicle parts that have become environment to reef-building organisms off Asan beach in Guam

These areas become even more valuable for organisms as the oceans are increasingly depleted by fishing, seafloor dredging and boat mooring. Shipwrecks and weapons dump sites effectively act as sanctuaries – they are not national parks, but nearly any kind of anthropogenic disturbance is prohibited, explains Vedenin. As a result a many of organisms that are typically scarce or diminishing, such as the cod fish, are prospering.

Coming Considerations

Anywhere warfare has taken place in the recent history, nearby oceans are usually strewn with weapons, explains Vedenin. Many millions of tons of dangerous substances remain in our oceans.

The sites of these explosives are insufficiently documented, partly because of sovereign limits, secret armed forces records and the fact that documents are buried in historical records. They present an detonation and safety hazard, as well as threat from the ongoing emission of toxic chemicals.

As the German government and different states embark on clearing these remains, scientists hope to preserve the ecosystems that have formed nearby. In the Bay of Lübeck explosives are currently being cleared.

Researchers recommend replace these iron structures left from weapons with some safer, some safe structures, like perhaps artificial reefs, suggests Vedenin.

He currently aspires that what occurs in Lübeck establishes a model for substituting structures after weapon clearance in other locations – because including the most damaging explosives can become framework for ocean ecosystems.