World War II Explosives, Torpedoes and Naval Mines: How Marine Life Prosper on Dumped Weapons

In the brackish sea off the Germany's shoreline rests a wasteland of World War II explosives, torpedoes and naval mines. Dumped from barges at the conclusion of the second world war and neglected, numerous explosives have accumulated over the years. They comprise a decaying layer on the shallow, muddy ocean floor of the Lübeck Bay in the western part of the Baltic.

Over the decades, the wartime weapons was ignored and forgotten about. A growing number of visitors came to the sandy beaches and calm waters for jetskiing, kite surfing and entertainment venues. Beneath the surface, the weapons eroded.

Researchers anticipated to see a lifeless zone, with no life because it was all toxic, says a scientist.

When the initial researchers went investigating to see what they were affecting to the ecosystem, the team expected to see a desert, with no life because it was all contaminated, says the lead researcher.

What they found astonished them. Vedenin remembers his scientists exclaiming in amazement when the submersible first sent the images back. It was a memorable occasion, he notes.

Countless of marine animals had established habitats on the munitions, developing a revitalized marine community richer than the ocean bottom around it.

This marine city was evidence to the persistence of life. Truly remarkable how much life we observe in places that are expected to be hazardous and risky, he states.

In excess of 40 starfish had piled on to one visible fragment of TNT. They were residing on metal shells, fuse pockets and carrying containers just a short distance from its dangerous content. Marine fish, crustaceans, anemones and mussels were all observed on the historic weapons. It resembles a reef ecosystem in terms of the abundance of animal life that was inhabiting the area, says Vedenin.

Unexpected Population Density

An mean of more than 40,000 animals were residing on every meter squared of the munitions, scientists documented in their study on the discovery. The surrounding area was much sparser, with only 8,000 organisms on every square metre.

It is ironic that items that are designed to destroy everything are attracting so much life, says Vedenin. It's evident how the natural world adapts after a devastating occurrence such as the second world war and how, in some way, marine life establishes itself to the most hazardous locations.

Man-made Features as Ocean Environments

Man-made constructions such as sunken vessels, wind turbines, oil rigs and pipelines can create alternatives, compensating for some of the removed marine environment. This research reveals that weapons could be comparably positive – the bloom of life on those in the Bay of Lübeck is expected to be duplicated elsewhere.

Between 1946 and the post-war period, 1.6 million tons of weapons were dumped off the German shoreline. Thousands of workers placed them in boats; some were placed in allocated locations, the remainder just discarded at sea during transport. This is the initial instance scientists have recorded how marine life has responded.

Worldwide Examples of Marine Adaptation

• In the United States, retired oil and gas structures have become marine habitats
• Shipwrecks from the first world war have become homes for wildlife along the Potomac in the state of Maryland
• Tank tracks that have become environment to coral off Asan beach in the Pacific island

These areas become even more crucial for organisms as the seas are increasingly denuded by fishing, seafloor dredging and boat mooring. Shipwrecks and weapons dump sites practically act as refuges – they are not official reserves, but nearly any kind of anthropogenic disturbance is restricted, explains Vedenin. Consequently a lot of marine species that are typically uncommon or declining, such as the cod fish, are thriving.

Coming Factors

Wherever armed conflict has occurred in the past 100 years, surrounding seas are usually strewn with weapons, states Vedenin. Millions of tons of explosive material rest in our seas.

The locations of these explosives are insufficiently mapped, partly because of international boundaries, restricted military information and the fact that documents are stored in old files. They present an explosion and security risk, as well as danger from the ongoing emission of hazardous substances.

As the German government and different states begin clearing these artifacts, scientists hope to safeguard the marine communities that have formed around them. In the Lübeck Bay weapons are presently being extracted.

It would be wise to replace these iron structures left from weapons with certain less dangerous, various harmless structures, like maybe man-made habitats, says Vedenin.

He currently wishes that what transpires in Lübeck establishes a precedent for substituting habitats after weapon clearance elsewhere – because also the most harmful explosives can become scaffolding for ocean ecosystems.