World War II Munitions, Torpedoes and Mines: How Marine Life Prosper on Dumped Weapons
In the slightly salty sea off the Germany's shoreline sits a graveyard of World War II explosives, torpedoes and naval mines. Thrown off barges at the end of the second world war and neglected, thousands weapons have fused into clusters over the decades. They create a decaying blanket on the low-depth, silty ocean floor of the Lübeck Bay in the western part of the Baltic.
Over the decades, the wartime weapons was overlooked and forgotten about. A growing number of tourists came to the coastal areas and tranquil sea for jetskiing, kite surfing and entertainment venues. Below the waves, the munitions decayed.
Some of us expected to see a desert, with no life because it was all poisoned, states Andrey Vedenin.
When the team went investigating to see what they were doing to the marine environment, some of us thought they would find a barren area, with nothing living there because it was all poisoned, states a scientist.
What they found amazed them. Vedenin recalls his scientists reacting with shock when the submersible first transmitted footage. That moment was a memorable occasion, he notes.
Countless of ocean life had settled amid the weapons, creating a regenerated marine community more populous than the seabed nearby.
This underwater metropolis was evidence to the persistence of marine life. It is actually remarkable how much life we observe in places that are supposed to be toxic and risky, he states.
Over 40 sea stars had gathered on to one visible fragment of TNT. They were living on metal shells, ignition chambers and transport cases just a short distance from its explosive filling. Fish, crabs, anemones and mussels were all observed on the discarded explosives. It resembles a reef ecosystem in terms of the quantity of fauna that was present, says Vedenin.
Surprising Creature Concentration
An average of more than forty thousand animals were dwelling on every meter squared of the munitions, scientists documented in their research on the finding. The nearby seabed was much poorer in life, with only eight thousand organisms on every square metre.
It is ironic that items that are intended to kill all life are attracting so much marine organisms, says Vedenin. One can observe how the natural world adjusts after a catastrophic event such as the World War II and how, in some way, life finds its way to the most hazardous places.
Man-made Structures as Ocean Environments
Man-made structures such as sunken vessels, wind turbines, drilling platforms and pipelines can offer replacements, replacing some of the lost marine environment. This study shows that explosives could be similarly beneficial – the explosion of life on those in the Bay of Lübeck is expected to be found in other locations.
Between 1946 and the post-war period, 1.6 million tonnes of munitions were disposed of off the Germany's coast. Thousands of workers loaded them in boats; a portion were deposited in specific sites, the remainder just discarded at sea during transport. This is the initial instance researchers have documented how marine life has responded.
Global Instances of Ocean Transformation
- In the US, retired drilling platforms have become coral reefs
- Shipwrecks from the first world war have become habitats for creatures along the Potomac in Maryland
- Tank tracks that have become environment to reef-building organisms off Asan 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. Sunken ships and explosive disposal locations essentially serve as sanctuaries – they are not official reserves, but nearly any kind of anthropogenic disturbance is banned, explains Vedenin. Consequently a numerous of organisms that are otherwise scarce or declining, such as the cod fish, are flourishing.
Future Issues
Anywhere warfare has happened in the past 100 years, nearby oceans are usually strewn with weapons, says Vedenin. Many millions of tonnes of volatile compounds lie in our oceans.
The locations of these explosives are poorly recorded, in part because of international boundaries, restricted defense data and the reality that documents are hidden in historic archives. They pose an explosion and safety risk, as well as danger from the continuous release of hazardous substances.
As Germany and additional nations begin clearing these remains, researchers aim to protect the marine communities that have developed nearby. In the Lübeck Bay weapons are currently being removed.
Researchers recommend replace these iron structures left from munitions with certain less dangerous, various harmless objects, like possibly concrete structures, says Vedenin.
He currently wishes that what happens in Lübeck establishes a precedent for replacing habitats after explosive extraction in other locations – because including the most damaging armaments can become scaffolding for ocean ecosystems.