🔗 Share this article World War II Explosives, Torpedoes and Mines: The Way Marine Life Prosper on Discarded Weapons In the brackish sea off the Germany's coast rests a graveyard of World War II explosives, torpedo heads and naval mines. Dumped from vessels at the end of the World War II and left behind, countless explosives have accumulated over the years. They form a rusting layer on the low-depth, muddy seafloor of the Lübeck Bay in the western part of the Baltic Sea. Over the decades, the explosive stockpile was overlooked and neglected. A growing number of visitors flocked to the sandy beaches and calm waters for water sports, kite surfing and entertainment venues. Underwater, the munitions deteriorated. We initially expected to see a lifeless zone, with no life because it was all contaminated, explains Andrey Vedenin. When the initial researchers went looking to see what they were doing to the marine environment, the team expected to see a lifeless zone, with no organisms because it was all toxic, says Andrey Vedenin. What they found amazed them. Vedenin recalls his team members shouting with surprise when the ROV first relayed pictures. This was a remarkable experience, he says. Thousands of marine animals had settled among the explosives, forming a revitalized habitat richer than the seabed nearby. This marine city was evidence to the resilience of marine life. Indeed surprising how much life we find in places that are supposed to be toxic and dangerous, he states. Over 40 sea stars had piled on to one accessible chunk of TNT. They were living on steel casings, ignition chambers and storage boxes just a short distance from its volatile core. Marine fish, crustaceans, anemones and mussels were all discovered on the historic weapons. It's similar to a marine reef in terms of the abundance of fauna that was inhabiting the area, says Vedenin. Surprising Population Density An mean of more than forty thousand creatures were living on every meter squared of the munitions, scientists wrote in their paper on the discovery. The nearby seabed was much less diverse, with only eight thousand individuals on every meter squared. It is ironic that items that are designed to destroy everything are drawing so much marine organisms, explains Vedenin. It's evident how the natural world adapts after a major disaster such as the World War II and how, in certain respects, life returns to the most risky locations. Man-made Structures as Marine Environments Man-made constructions such as sunken vessels, offshore windfarms, drilling platforms and undersea pipes can provide replacements, compensating for some of the lost habitat. This investigation reveals that weapons could be similarly advantageous – the bloom 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, 1.6 million tons of munitions were disposed of off the German coast. Thousands of workers loaded them in boats; some were placed in designated locations, the remainder just discarded at sea during transport. This is the initial instance experts have studied how marine life has responded. Global Examples of Marine Transformation In the US, retired oil and gas structures have become reef ecosystems Shipwrecks from the World War I have become habitats for wildlife along the Potomac in the state of Maryland Tank tracks that have become habitat to coral off Asan beach in Guam These locations become even more crucial for organisms as the oceans are increasingly stripped by fishing, seafloor dredging and anchoring. Shipwrecks and weapons dump sites practically function as refuges – they are not national parks, but nearly any kind of human activity is restricted, states Vedenin. Consequently a lot of marine species that are otherwise scarce or declining, such as the Baltic cod, are flourishing. Future Considerations Anywhere military conflict has taken place in the past 100 years, nearby oceans are typically strewn with munitions, says Vedenin. Many millions of tons of volatile compounds lie in our oceans. The positions of these weapons are inadequately documented, partially because of international boundaries, secret defense data and the fact that records are buried in historic archives. They pose an explosion and security danger, as well as risk from the ongoing leakage of hazardous substances. As the German government and additional nations start extracting these remains, experts plan to preserve the marine communities that have established nearby. In the Bay of Lübeck munitions are currently being removed. Researchers recommend substitute these metal carcasses remaining from munitions with some less dangerous, various safe structures, like possibly concrete structures, suggests Vedenin. He now wishes that what happens in Lübeck establishes a model for replacing structures after munitions removal elsewhere – because including the most damaging weaponry can become foundation for ocean ecosystems.
In the brackish sea off the Germany's coast rests a graveyard of World War II explosives, torpedo heads and naval mines. Dumped from vessels at the end of the World War II and left behind, countless explosives have accumulated over the years. They form a rusting layer on the low-depth, muddy seafloor of the Lübeck Bay in the western part of the Baltic Sea. Over the decades, the explosive stockpile was overlooked and neglected. A growing number of visitors flocked to the sandy beaches and calm waters for water sports, kite surfing and entertainment venues. Underwater, the munitions deteriorated. We initially expected to see a lifeless zone, with no life because it was all contaminated, explains Andrey Vedenin. When the initial researchers went looking to see what they were doing to the marine environment, the team expected to see a lifeless zone, with no organisms because it was all toxic, says Andrey Vedenin. What they found amazed them. Vedenin recalls his team members shouting with surprise when the ROV first relayed pictures. This was a remarkable experience, he says. Thousands of marine animals had settled among the explosives, forming a revitalized habitat richer than the seabed nearby. This marine city was evidence to the resilience of marine life. Indeed surprising how much life we find in places that are supposed to be toxic and dangerous, he states. Over 40 sea stars had piled on to one accessible chunk of TNT. They were living on steel casings, ignition chambers and storage boxes just a short distance from its volatile core. Marine fish, crustaceans, anemones and mussels were all discovered on the historic weapons. It's similar to a marine reef in terms of the abundance of fauna that was inhabiting the area, says Vedenin. Surprising Population Density An mean of more than forty thousand creatures were living on every meter squared of the munitions, scientists wrote in their paper on the discovery. The nearby seabed was much less diverse, with only eight thousand individuals on every meter squared. It is ironic that items that are designed to destroy everything are drawing so much marine organisms, explains Vedenin. It's evident how the natural world adapts after a major disaster such as the World War II and how, in certain respects, life returns to the most risky locations. Man-made Structures as Marine Environments Man-made constructions such as sunken vessels, offshore windfarms, drilling platforms and undersea pipes can provide replacements, compensating for some of the lost habitat. This investigation reveals that weapons could be similarly advantageous – the bloom 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, 1.6 million tons of munitions were disposed of off the German coast. Thousands of workers loaded them in boats; some were placed in designated locations, the remainder just discarded at sea during transport. This is the initial instance experts have studied how marine life has responded. Global Examples of Marine Transformation In the US, retired oil and gas structures have become reef ecosystems Shipwrecks from the World War I have become habitats for wildlife along the Potomac in the state of Maryland Tank tracks that have become habitat to coral off Asan beach in Guam These locations become even more crucial for organisms as the oceans are increasingly stripped by fishing, seafloor dredging and anchoring. Shipwrecks and weapons dump sites practically function as refuges – they are not national parks, but nearly any kind of human activity is restricted, states Vedenin. Consequently a lot of marine species that are otherwise scarce or declining, such as the Baltic cod, are flourishing. Future Considerations Anywhere military conflict has taken place in the past 100 years, nearby oceans are typically strewn with munitions, says Vedenin. Many millions of tons of volatile compounds lie in our oceans. The positions of these weapons are inadequately documented, partially because of international boundaries, secret defense data and the fact that records are buried in historic archives. They pose an explosion and security danger, as well as risk from the ongoing leakage of hazardous substances. As the German government and additional nations start extracting these remains, experts plan to preserve the marine communities that have established nearby. In the Bay of Lübeck munitions are currently being removed. Researchers recommend substitute these metal carcasses remaining from munitions with some less dangerous, various safe structures, like possibly concrete structures, suggests Vedenin. He now wishes that what happens in Lübeck establishes a model for replacing structures after munitions removal elsewhere – because including the most damaging weaponry can become foundation for ocean ecosystems.