In the brackish waters off the Germany's shoreline sits a collection of World War II explosives, torpedo heads and naval mines. Discarded from boats at the conclusion of the second world war and forgotten about, countless explosives have become matted together over the decades. They form a decaying layer on the low-depth, silty seafloor of the Bay of Lübeck in the western part of the Baltic.
Over the years, the wartime weapons was ignored and neglected. A increasing amount of visitors flocked to the sandy beaches and calm waters for water sports, kiteboarding and entertainment venues. Beneath the surface, the weapons eroded.
Researchers expected to see a barren area, with nothing living there because it was all poisoned, states a scientist.
When the team went looking to see what they were doing to the marine environment, the team expected to see a barren area, with no organisms because it was all contaminated, says a scientist.
What they discovered astonished them. Vedenin recounts his team members shouting with surprise when the submersible first relayed pictures. It was a remarkable experience, he says.
Countless of ocean life had made their homes among the munitions, forming a regenerated ecosystem richer than the sea floor around it.
This marine city was testament to the tenacity of marine life. Truly astonishing how much marine organisms we find in places that are supposed to be toxic and dangerous, he states.
In excess of 40 sea stars had gathered on to one visible chunk of TNT. They were residing on steel casings, fuse pockets and transport cases just centimetres from its dangerous content. Marine fish, crabs, anemones and mussels were all found on the old munitions. It resembles a marine reef in terms of the amount of fauna that was there, states Vedenin.
An average of more than forty thousand animals were residing on every meter squared of the munitions, experts wrote in their study on the observation. The surrounding area was much poorer in life, with only eight thousand individuals on every meter squared.
It is ironic that things that are designed to destroy everything are hosting so much marine organisms, explains Vedenin. One can observe how the natural world adapts after a catastrophic event such as the World War II and how, in some way, marine life establishes itself to the most dangerous locations.
Artificial constructions such as shipwrecks, offshore windfarms, drilling platforms and pipelines can create substitutes, replacing some of the removed habitat. This research shows that explosives could be comparably beneficial – the bloom of marine organisms on those in the Bay of Lübeck is expected to be duplicated in different areas.
Between 1946 and 1948, 1.6 million tonnes of arms were disposed of off the Germany's coast. Thousands of individuals transported them in boats; some were placed in specific sites, others just dumped en route. This is the first time experts have studied how ocean organisms has reacted.
These areas become even more valuable for wildlife as the seas are increasingly depleted by commercial fishing, seafloor dredging and boat mooring. Shipwrecks and weapons dump sites effectively function as protected areas – they are not official reserves, but nearly any kind of anthropogenic disturbance is banned, explains Vedenin. As a result a lot of organisms that are typically scarce or declining, such as the Baltic cod, are prospering.
Wherever military conflict has occurred in the last century, nearby oceans are often strewn with explosives, says Vedenin. Millions of tonnes of explosive material rest in our marine environments.
The positions of these explosives are poorly documented, partially because of national borders, restricted military information and the fact that records are hidden in historic archives. They create an detonation and security risk, as well as risk from the continuous release of hazardous substances.
As the German government and other countries begin removing these artifacts, experts hope to preserve the marine communities that have developed in their vicinity. In the Lübeck Bay munitions are presently being removed.
Researchers recommend replace these metal carcasses left from munitions with certain more secure, some safe materials, like maybe man-made habitats, says Vedenin.
He currently wishes that what happens in the Bay of Lübeck sets a example for replacing habitats after explosive extraction elsewhere – because even the most destructive weaponry can become scaffolding for ocean ecosystems.
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