World War II Explosives, Torpedoes and Mines: The Way Marine Life Prosper on Abandoned Armaments

In the brackish waters off the Germany's shoreline lies a graveyard of World War II explosives, torpedoes and mines. Dumped from boats at the end of the second world war and left behind, numerous munitions have accumulated over the decades. They comprise a rusting carpet on the low-depth, silty seafloor of the Lübeck Bay in the western tip of the Baltic Sea.

Over the decades, the wartime weapons was overlooked and forgotten about. A increasing amount of tourists traveled to the sandy beaches and tranquil sea for jetskiing, kite surfing and amusement parks. Beneath the surface, the munitions deteriorated.

Researchers anticipated to see a lifeless zone, with no life because it was all toxic, explains the lead researcher.

When the team went searching to see what they were affecting to the marine environment, some of us anticipated finding a desert, with no life because it was all contaminated, explains a scientist.

What they observed surprised them. Vedenin recalls his colleagues reacting with shock when the underwater vehicle first sent the images back. It was a remarkable experience, he says.

Countless of marine animals had established habitats among the weapons, forming a revitalized habitat more populous than the seabed surrounding it.

This ocean community was testament to the resilience of life. Indeed surprising how much life we find in areas that are supposed to be dangerous and dangerous, he states.

More than 40 starfish had clustered on to one visible piece of explosive material. They were dwelling on steel casings, fuse pockets and transport cases just a short distance from its dangerous content. Marine fish, crustaceans, anemones and mussels were all discovered on the discarded explosives. You could compare it with a coral reef in terms of the quantity of creatures that was present, notes Vedenin.

Surprising Population Density

An average of more than forty thousand creatures were dwelling on every square metre of the explosives, scientists wrote in their study on the observation. The surrounding area was much sparser, with only 8,000 individuals on every square metre.

It is paradoxical that things that are intended to destroy all life are attracting so much life, states Vedenin. One can observe how nature evolves after a devastating occurrence such as the second world war and how, in certain respects, marine life establishes itself to the most risky locations.

Artificial Structures as Ocean Habitats

Man-made constructions such as shipwrecks, offshore windfarms, oil rigs and pipelines can create alternatives, compensating for some of the destroyed habitat. This investigation shows that weapons could be similarly positive – the proliferation of life on those in the Bay of Lübeck is probable to be duplicated elsewhere.

Between 1946 and the post-war period, 1.6 million tons of weapons were discarded off the Germany's shoreline. Numerous of people transported them in barges; a portion were deposited in allocated areas, others just dumped en route. This is the initial instance researchers have studied how ocean organisms has reacted.

Global Examples of Marine Transformation

• In the United States, retired oil and gas structures have transformed into marine habitats
• Shipwrecks from the first world war have become habitats for wildlife along the Potomac River in Maryland
• Tank tracks that have become home to coral off Asan in the Pacific island

These areas become even more valuable for organisms as the oceans are increasingly stripped by commercial fishing, bottom trawling and boat mooring. Shipwrecks and explosive disposal locations effectively function as refuges – they are not national parks, but almost any kind of human activity is banned, explains Vedenin. As a result a lot of organisms that are usually rare or diminishing, such as the cod fish, are thriving.

Future Issues

Wherever armed conflict has taken place in the past 100 years, surrounding seas are often littered with explosives, states Vedenin. Millions of tons of dangerous substances remain in our seas.

The sites of these munitions are insufficiently recorded, partly because of national borders, classified military information and the reality that documents are hidden in old files. They pose an explosion and safety risk, as well as danger from the continuous release of toxic chemicals.

As the German government and different states embark on removing these relics, researchers hope to safeguard the ecosystems that have established around them. In the Lübeck Bay munitions are currently being extracted.

Researchers recommend replace these steel remains remaining from weapons with certain more secure, various non-dangerous structures, like maybe artificial reefs, says Vedenin.

He currently aspires that what transpires in the Bay of Lübeck sets a example for substituting habitats after weapon clearance in other locations – because also the most destructive weaponry can become foundation for new life.