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

In the brackish sea off the Germany's coast lies a collection of World War II explosives, torpedo heads and naval mines. Thrown off barges at the end of the second world war and left behind, numerous explosives have accumulated over the decades. They form a rusting blanket on the shallow, silty ocean floor of the Lübeck Bay in the western tip of the Baltic.

Over the years, the explosive stockpile was ignored and forgotten about. A increasing amount of visitors traveled to the coastal areas and tranquil sea for water sports, kite surfing and entertainment venues. Below the waves, the munitions deteriorated.

Some of us expected to see a barren area, with no life because it was all contaminated, explains Andrey Vedenin.

When the first scientists went looking to see what they were doing to the ecosystem, the team thought they would find a barren area, with nothing living there because it was all toxic, explains Andrey Vedenin.

What they found amazed them. Vedenin recalls his team members reacting with shock when the underwater vehicle first transmitted footage. It was a great moment, he notes.

Thousands of ocean life had settled amid the explosives, forming a renewed habitat denser than the ocean bottom nearby.

This ocean community was evidence to the tenacity of life. Indeed remarkable how much life we observe in areas that are expected to be hazardous and harmful, he says.

In excess of 40 sea stars had clustered on to one accessible piece of explosive material. They were living on iron containers, detonator compartments and storage boxes just a short distance from its explosive filling. Fish, crustaceans, sea anemones and mussels were all discovered on the old munitions. You could compare it with a reef ecosystem in terms of the amount of fauna that was present, states Vedenin.

Remarkable Population Density

An average of more than forty thousand animals were dwelling on every meter squared of the explosives, scientists wrote in their research on the finding. The adjacent region was much less diverse, with only eight thousand organisms on every square metre.

It is paradoxical that items that are intended to destroy everything are hosting so much marine organisms, explains Vedenin. You can see how the natural world evolves after a catastrophic event such as the second world war and how, in some way, life establishes itself to the most dangerous places.

Man-made Features as Marine Habitats

Artificial structures such as sunken vessels, wind turbines, drilling platforms and undersea pipes can offer alternatives, compensating for some of the destroyed habitat. This investigation reveals that weapons could be equally beneficial – the explosion of marine organisms on those in the Bay of Lübeck is likely to be repeated in different areas.

Between the late 1940s and 1948, 1.6 million tons of weapons were discarded off the Germany's shoreline. Countless of workers transported them in boats; a portion were deposited in allocated areas, others just thrown overboard while traveling. This is the initial instance experts have documented how marine life has responded.

Global Instances of Ocean Transformation

• In the US, decommissioned drilling platforms have transformed into marine habitats
• Shipwrecks from the World War I have become homes for wildlife along the Potomac in Maryland
• Military vehicle parts that have become environment to coral off Asan in the Pacific island

These locations become even more crucial for wildlife as the oceans are increasingly stripped by fishing, bottom trawling and anchoring. Sunken ships and munitions areas effectively serve as protected areas – they are not national parks, but nearly any kind of human activity is restricted, says Vedenin. As a result a lot of species that are otherwise uncommon or declining, such as the Baltic cod, are flourishing.

Coming Issues

Anywhere armed conflict has taken place in the past 100 years, adjacent waters are usually littered with munitions, says Vedenin. Millions of tonnes of explosive material lie in our oceans.

The positions of these weapons are insufficiently mapped, partly because of national borders, restricted military information and the fact that archives are stored in historical records. They present an explosion and safety risk, as well as danger from the persistent emission of toxic chemicals.

As Germany and different states embark on extracting these relics, researchers hope to protect the ecosystems that have developed nearby. In the Lübeck Bay munitions are already being extracted.

We should replace these iron structures left from munitions with certain safer, some safe structures, like perhaps man-made habitats, states Vedenin.

He currently hopes that what happens in the Bay of Lübeck creates a model for substituting structures after weapon clearance elsewhere – because even the most destructive armaments can become foundation for new life.