🔗 Share this article World War II Bombs, Torpedo Heads and Naval Mines: How Ocean Creatures Thrives on Abandoned Armaments In the brackish sea off the Germany's shoreline sits a wasteland of Nazi bombs, torpedo heads and mines. Dumped from vessels at the end of the World War II and left behind, thousands munitions have become matted together over the years. They form a rusting blanket on the shallow, silty seafloor of the Bay of Lübeck in the western tip of the Baltic. Over the decades, the wartime weapons was ignored and neglected. A growing number of tourists flocked to the coastal areas and tranquil sea for jetskiing, kiteboarding and entertainment venues. Beneath the surface, the weapons deteriorated. We initially thought to see a barren area, with no organisms because it was all poisoned, explains a scientist. When the team went searching to see what they were affecting to the marine environment, researchers expected to see a desert, with no organisms because it was all poisoned, states Andrey Vedenin. What they discovered surprised them. Vedenin remembers his team members shouting with surprise when the ROV first transmitted footage. That moment was a remarkable experience, he recalls. Thousands of ocean life had settled among the munitions, forming a revitalized ecosystem richer than the seabed around it. This underwater metropolis was evidence to the persistence of marine life. Indeed surprising how much marine organisms we find in locations that are supposed to be toxic and risky, he explains. Over 40 sea stars had gathered on to one visible piece of explosive material. They were residing on iron containers, ignition chambers and carrying containers just a short distance from its volatile core. Fish, crustaceans, anemones and bivalves were all observed on the historic weapons. You could compare it with a coral reef in terms of the abundance of fauna that was there, notes Vedenin. Remarkable Population Density An mean of more than forty thousand creatures were living on every square metre of the explosives, researchers documented in their study on the observation. The surrounding area was much poorer in life, with only eight thousand organisms on every square metre. It is surprising that items that are intended to eliminate everything are hosting so much marine organisms, states Vedenin. You can see how the natural world evolves after a major disaster such as the second world war and how, in some way, life establishes itself to the most hazardous areas. Man-made Features as Ocean Habitats Artificial structures such as shipwrecks, wind turbines, drilling platforms and pipelines can provide alternatives, compensating for some of the lost habitat. This study reveals that explosives could be comparably positive – the proliferation of life on those in the Bay of Lübeck is probable to be found in different areas. Between the late 1940s and the post-war period, 1.6m tonnes of arms were discarded off the German shoreline. Countless of individuals transported them in barges; a portion were dropped in allocated sites, others just dumped during transport. This is the initial instance experts have studied how marine life has reacted. Global Examples of Marine Adaptation In the US, retired energy installations have transformed into marine habitats Sunken ships from the World War I have become homes for wildlife along the Potomac River in Maryland Tank tracks that have become home to coral off Asan in the Pacific island These places become even more valuable for wildlife as the seas are increasingly depleted by commercial fishing, seafloor dredging and boat mooring. Sunken ships and munitions areas effectively act as protected areas – they are not official reserves, but almost any kind of human activity is banned, states Vedenin. As a result a lot of marine species that are otherwise uncommon or declining, such as the cod fish, are prospering. Future Issues Wherever military conflict has happened in the last century, nearby oceans are often strewn with munitions, says Vedenin. Millions of tons of explosive material remain in our seas. The positions of these munitions are poorly documented, partially because of national borders, restricted military information and the reality that archives are hidden in historic archives. They pose an explosion and security hazard, as well as threat from the persistent release of hazardous substances. As the German government and additional nations begin removing these artifacts, researchers hope to preserve the habitats that have formed around them. In the Lübeck Bay explosives are already being extracted. It would be wise to replace these metal carcasses left from munitions with certain safer, various harmless structures, like maybe concrete structures, suggests Vedenin. He presently aspires that what happens in the Bay of Lübeck creates a model for substituting structures after munitions removal elsewhere – because including the most damaging explosives can become framework for new life.
In the brackish sea off the Germany's shoreline sits a wasteland of Nazi bombs, torpedo heads and mines. Dumped from vessels at the end of the World War II and left behind, thousands munitions have become matted together over the years. They form a rusting blanket on the shallow, silty seafloor of the Bay of Lübeck in the western tip of the Baltic. Over the decades, the wartime weapons was ignored and neglected. A growing number of tourists flocked to the coastal areas and tranquil sea for jetskiing, kiteboarding and entertainment venues. Beneath the surface, the weapons deteriorated. We initially thought to see a barren area, with no organisms because it was all poisoned, explains a scientist. When the team went searching to see what they were affecting to the marine environment, researchers expected to see a desert, with no organisms because it was all poisoned, states Andrey Vedenin. What they discovered surprised them. Vedenin remembers his team members shouting with surprise when the ROV first transmitted footage. That moment was a remarkable experience, he recalls. Thousands of ocean life had settled among the munitions, forming a revitalized ecosystem richer than the seabed around it. This underwater metropolis was evidence to the persistence of marine life. Indeed surprising how much marine organisms we find in locations that are supposed to be toxic and risky, he explains. Over 40 sea stars had gathered on to one visible piece of explosive material. They were residing on iron containers, ignition chambers and carrying containers just a short distance from its volatile core. Fish, crustaceans, anemones and bivalves were all observed on the historic weapons. You could compare it with a coral reef in terms of the abundance of fauna that was there, notes Vedenin. Remarkable Population Density An mean of more than forty thousand creatures were living on every square metre of the explosives, researchers documented in their study on the observation. The surrounding area was much poorer in life, with only eight thousand organisms on every square metre. It is surprising that items that are intended to eliminate everything are hosting so much marine organisms, states Vedenin. You can see how the natural world evolves after a major disaster such as the second world war and how, in some way, life establishes itself to the most hazardous areas. Man-made Features as Ocean Habitats Artificial structures such as shipwrecks, wind turbines, drilling platforms and pipelines can provide alternatives, compensating for some of the lost habitat. This study reveals that explosives could be comparably positive – the proliferation of life on those in the Bay of Lübeck is probable to be found in different areas. Between the late 1940s and the post-war period, 1.6m tonnes of arms were discarded off the German shoreline. Countless of individuals transported them in barges; a portion were dropped in allocated sites, others just dumped during transport. This is the initial instance experts have studied how marine life has reacted. Global Examples of Marine Adaptation In the US, retired energy installations have transformed into marine habitats Sunken ships from the World War I have become homes for wildlife along the Potomac River in Maryland Tank tracks that have become home to coral off Asan in the Pacific island These places become even more valuable for wildlife as the seas are increasingly depleted by commercial fishing, seafloor dredging and boat mooring. Sunken ships and munitions areas effectively act as protected areas – they are not official reserves, but almost any kind of human activity is banned, states Vedenin. As a result a lot of marine species that are otherwise uncommon or declining, such as the cod fish, are prospering. Future Issues Wherever military conflict has happened in the last century, nearby oceans are often strewn with munitions, says Vedenin. Millions of tons of explosive material remain in our seas. The positions of these munitions are poorly documented, partially because of national borders, restricted military information and the reality that archives are hidden in historic archives. They pose an explosion and security hazard, as well as threat from the persistent release of hazardous substances. As the German government and additional nations begin removing these artifacts, researchers hope to preserve the habitats that have formed around them. In the Lübeck Bay explosives are already being extracted. It would be wise to replace these metal carcasses left from munitions with certain safer, various harmless structures, like maybe concrete structures, suggests Vedenin. He presently aspires that what happens in the Bay of Lübeck creates a model for substituting structures after munitions removal elsewhere – because including the most damaging explosives can become framework for new life.