🔗 Share this article World War II Munitions, Torpedoes and Mines: How Ocean Creatures Thrives on Discarded Armaments In the brackish waters off the German coast sits a collection of Nazi bombs, torpedo heads and mines. Thrown off boats at the end of the World War II and neglected, numerous weapons have fused into clusters over the decades. They create a decaying carpet on the shallow, muddy ocean floor of the Lübeck Bay in the western tip of the Baltic Sea. Over the years, the Nazi arsenal was ignored and neglected. A growing number of visitors came to the sandy beaches and tranquil sea for water sports, kite surfing and entertainment venues. Underwater, the munitions deteriorated. We initially expected to see a lifeless zone, with no organisms because it was all contaminated, explains the lead researcher. When the initial researchers went investigating to see what they were affecting to the marine environment, some of us expected to see a desert, with nothing living there because it was all poisoned, states a scientist. What they found astonished them. Vedenin recounts his scientists reacting with shock when the underwater vehicle first transmitted footage. This was a memorable occasion, he recalls. Thousands of sea creatures had settled among the munitions, creating a regenerated ecosystem richer than the seabed around it. This marine city was evidence to the tenacity of marine life. Indeed surprising how much life we discover in areas that are considered toxic and harmful, he explains. More than 40 sea stars had piled on to one exposed fragment of TNT. They were dwelling on iron containers, detonator compartments and carrying containers just centimetres from its explosive filling. Fish, crustaceans, anemones and bivalves were all found on the discarded explosives. It's similar to a marine reef in terms of the amount of creatures that was there, notes Vedenin. Surprising Population Density An average of more than forty thousand creatures were dwelling on every meter squared of the munitions, scientists reported in their paper on the finding. The adjacent region was much sparser, with only 8,000 individuals on every square metre. It is paradoxical that objects that are meant to kill everything are attracting so much marine organisms, explains Vedenin. One can observe how nature adjusts after a major disaster such as the second world war and how, in some way, marine life finds its way to the most risky areas. Man-made Structures as Ocean Habitats Man-made constructions such as sunken vessels, offshore windfarms, oil rigs and undersea pipes can offer substitutes, compensating for some of the destroyed marine environment. This investigation demonstrates that explosives could be similarly advantageous – the bloom of marine organisms on those in the Lübeck Bay is expected to be found elsewhere. Between the late 1940s and 1948, 1.6 million tonnes of munitions were disposed of off the German shoreline. Numerous of individuals transported them in barges; some were deposited in specific locations, others just thrown overboard en route. This is the initial instance scientists have documented how ocean organisms has responded. Worldwide Examples of Marine Transformation In the United States, retired energy installations have turned into reef ecosystems Sunken ships from the World War I have become environments for marine life along the Potomac River in the state of Maryland Military vehicle parts that have become environment to coral off Asan beach in Guam These places become even more valuable for marine life as the oceans are increasingly stripped by commercial fishing, seafloor dredging and boat mooring. Shipwrecks and weapons dump sites effectively serve as sanctuaries – they are not official reserves, but nearly any kind of human activity is restricted, says Vedenin. As a result a numerous of species that are otherwise scarce or decreasing, such as the cod fish, are flourishing. Future Considerations Wherever armed conflict has happened in the recent history, adjacent waters are typically littered with weapons, states Vedenin. Many millions of tonnes of volatile compounds rest in our marine environments. The locations of these explosives are poorly documented, partly because of sovereign limits, classified armed forces records and the situation that archives are hidden in historic archives. They pose an explosion and safety risk, as well as danger from the persistent emission of poisonous compounds. As Germany and other countries start clearing these relics, researchers aim to safeguard the ecosystems that have developed around them. In the Lübeck Bay explosives are already being cleared. We should substitute these steel remains remaining from munitions with certain less dangerous, some safe objects, like perhaps concrete structures, says Vedenin. He now aspires that what happens in Lübeck creates a precedent for replacing structures after munitions removal in other locations – because including the most destructive explosives can become scaffolding for marine organisms.
In the brackish waters off the German coast sits a collection of Nazi bombs, torpedo heads and mines. Thrown off boats at the end of the World War II and neglected, numerous weapons have fused into clusters over the decades. They create a decaying carpet on the shallow, muddy ocean floor of the Lübeck Bay in the western tip of the Baltic Sea. Over the years, the Nazi arsenal was ignored and neglected. A growing number of visitors came to the sandy beaches and tranquil sea for water sports, kite surfing and entertainment venues. Underwater, the munitions deteriorated. We initially expected to see a lifeless zone, with no organisms because it was all contaminated, explains the lead researcher. When the initial researchers went investigating to see what they were affecting to the marine environment, some of us expected to see a desert, with nothing living there because it was all poisoned, states a scientist. What they found astonished them. Vedenin recounts his scientists reacting with shock when the underwater vehicle first transmitted footage. This was a memorable occasion, he recalls. Thousands of sea creatures had settled among the munitions, creating a regenerated ecosystem richer than the seabed around it. This marine city was evidence to the tenacity of marine life. Indeed surprising how much life we discover in areas that are considered toxic and harmful, he explains. More than 40 sea stars had piled on to one exposed fragment of TNT. They were dwelling on iron containers, detonator compartments and carrying containers just centimetres from its explosive filling. Fish, crustaceans, anemones and bivalves were all found on the discarded explosives. It's similar to a marine reef in terms of the amount of creatures that was there, notes Vedenin. Surprising Population Density An average of more than forty thousand creatures were dwelling on every meter squared of the munitions, scientists reported in their paper on the finding. The adjacent region was much sparser, with only 8,000 individuals on every square metre. It is paradoxical that objects that are meant to kill everything are attracting so much marine organisms, explains Vedenin. One can observe how nature adjusts after a major disaster such as the second world war and how, in some way, marine life finds its way to the most risky areas. Man-made Structures as Ocean Habitats Man-made constructions such as sunken vessels, offshore windfarms, oil rigs and undersea pipes can offer substitutes, compensating for some of the destroyed marine environment. This investigation demonstrates that explosives could be similarly advantageous – the bloom of marine organisms on those in the Lübeck Bay is expected to be found elsewhere. Between the late 1940s and 1948, 1.6 million tonnes of munitions were disposed of off the German shoreline. Numerous of individuals transported them in barges; some were deposited in specific locations, others just thrown overboard en route. This is the initial instance scientists have documented how ocean organisms has responded. Worldwide Examples of Marine Transformation In the United States, retired energy installations have turned into reef ecosystems Sunken ships from the World War I have become environments for marine life along the Potomac River in the state of Maryland Military vehicle parts that have become environment to coral off Asan beach in Guam These places become even more valuable for marine life as the oceans are increasingly stripped by commercial fishing, seafloor dredging and boat mooring. Shipwrecks and weapons dump sites effectively serve as sanctuaries – they are not official reserves, but nearly any kind of human activity is restricted, says Vedenin. As a result a numerous of species that are otherwise scarce or decreasing, such as the cod fish, are flourishing. Future Considerations Wherever armed conflict has happened in the recent history, adjacent waters are typically littered with weapons, states Vedenin. Many millions of tonnes of volatile compounds rest in our marine environments. The locations of these explosives are poorly documented, partly because of sovereign limits, classified armed forces records and the situation that archives are hidden in historic archives. They pose an explosion and safety risk, as well as danger from the persistent emission of poisonous compounds. As Germany and other countries start clearing these relics, researchers aim to safeguard the ecosystems that have developed around them. In the Lübeck Bay explosives are already being cleared. We should substitute these steel remains remaining from munitions with certain less dangerous, some safe objects, like perhaps concrete structures, says Vedenin. He now aspires that what happens in Lübeck creates a precedent for replacing structures after munitions removal in other locations – because including the most destructive explosives can become scaffolding for marine organisms.