In the brackish waters off the Germany's shoreline sits a collection of World War II explosives, torpedoes and naval mines. Dumped from boats at the conclusion of the second world war and left behind, countless explosives have fused into clusters over the years. They form a decaying layer on the low-depth, silty seafloor of the Lübeck Bay in the western tip of the Baltic.
Over the decades, the wartime weapons was overlooked and neglected. A increasing amount of tourists flocked to the sandy beaches and tranquil sea for water sports, kite surfing and entertainment venues. Beneath the surface, the munitions eroded.
Researchers thought to see a barren area, with no organisms because it was all poisoned, states Andrey Vedenin.
When the team went looking to see what they were affecting to the marine environment, some of us thought they would find a barren area, with no life because it was all contaminated, says a scientist.
What they discovered amazed them. Vedenin remembers his team members reacting with shock when the ROV first sent the images back. It was a memorable occasion, he recalls.
Thousands of sea creatures had made their homes among the weapons, developing a revitalized ecosystem more populous than the sea floor around it.
This underwater metropolis was testament to the resilience of life. Truly remarkable how much life we find in locations that are considered hazardous and dangerous, he states.
More than 40 sea stars had clustered on to one visible fragment of explosive material. They were dwelling on steel casings, detonator compartments and carrying containers just a short distance from its explosive filling. Marine fish, crabs, sea anemones and bivalves were all observed on the historic weapons. You could compare it with a reef ecosystem in terms of the amount of animal life that was there, says Vedenin.
Surprising Creature Concentration
An mean of more than forty thousand animals were living on every meter squared of the weapons, researchers reported in their paper on the discovery. The nearby seabed was much less diverse, with only eight thousand organisms on every square metre.
It is surprising that objects that are designed to destroy all life are hosting so much marine organisms, states Vedenin. You can see how nature adjusts after a major disaster such as the second world war and how, in some way, life establishes itself to the most hazardous places.
Artificial Features as Ocean Habitats
Man-made features such as shipwrecks, wind turbines, oil rigs and undersea pipes can create substitutes, compensating for some of the destroyed marine environment. This investigation demonstrates that weapons could be similarly advantageous – the bloom of life on those in the Lübeck Bay is likely to be duplicated in other locations.
Between 1946 and the post-war period, 1.6 million tonnes of arms were disposed of off the German coast. Thousands of workers transported them in vessels; some were dropped in specific locations, others just discarded at sea en route. This is the initial instance scientists have recorded how marine life has adapted.
Worldwide Examples of Ocean Transformation
- In the US, decommissioned drilling platforms have become coral reefs
- Shipwrecks from the first world war have become homes for wildlife along the Potomac in the state of Maryland
- Tank tracks that have become habitat to reef-building organisms off Asan beach in Guam
These places become even more important for organisms as the seas are increasingly denuded by commercial fishing, bottom trawling and boat mooring. Shipwrecks and munitions areas effectively act as refuges – they are not national parks, but nearly any kind of anthropogenic disturbance is restricted, explains Vedenin. Therefore a lot of organisms that are usually scarce or decreasing, such as the cod fish, are flourishing.
Coming Factors
Wherever armed conflict has taken place in the last century, adjacent waters are usually strewn with explosives, explains Vedenin. Millions of tons of volatile compounds remain in our marine environments.
The locations of these weapons are poorly mapped, partly because of international boundaries, classified armed forces records and the fact that documents are buried in old files. They pose an detonation and security risk, as well as danger from the ongoing emission of hazardous substances.
As the German government and other countries begin clearing these relics, researchers aim to safeguard the ecosystems that have formed nearby. In the Lübeck Bay munitions are already being extracted.
It would be wise to substitute these steel remains remaining from munitions with some safer, some safe objects, like possibly concrete structures, states Vedenin.
He now wishes that what transpires in Lübeck sets a example for substituting structures after weapon clearance in different areas – because even the most damaging armaments can become framework for marine organisms.
