Scientists find marine life thriving on World War II explosives in the Baltic Sea

A submarine submarine has spotted crabs, worms and fish that thrive on the surfaces of the World War II explosives considered toxic to marine life.

In a former Baltic Sea weapons discharge site, scientists have found more creatures living at the top of the warheads than in the surrounding foundations.

“We were ready to see a significantly lower number of all kinds of animals,” said the author of the study Andrey Vedenin with the Senckenberg Research Institute in Germany. “But that turned out to be the opposite.”

The past conflicts have left their mark on the world’s oceans, said Vedenin. German waters alone contain approximately 1.6 million tonnes (1.5 million metric tonnes) of spilled weapons, mainly from the two world wars in the 20th century. The poured relics can contain nuclear and chemical remains as well as explosives like TNT.

This is the latest example of flourishing fauna in polluted sites. Previous research has shown sinking and former complexes of weapons teeming with biodiversity.

In the new study, researchers have filmed anemones, starfish networks and other underwater lives in Lübeck bay off the coast of Germany. They hid on pieces of V-1 flying bombs used by Nazi Germany.

“Normally, we do not study the ecology of bombs,” said the environmentalist of the University of Georgia, James Porter, who was not involved in research.

Research was published Thursday in the journal Earth and Environment Communications.

Why would sea creatures make their house on contaminated weapons? They could be attracted to hard surfaces, which are rare in the Baltic Sea. The seabed is mainly a flat bed of mud and sand because stones and rocks were caught out of the water for construction in the 1800s and 1900s, said Vedenin.

The area is also quite isolated from human activity due to chemicals, creating a somewhat protective bubble for creatures to prosper despite certain toxic compromises.

Scientists hope to calculate the amount of contamination absorbed by marine life. Another important step is to see what’s going on after creatures settle down and if they are able to reproduce, said wearing.

Studies like these bear witness to the way in which nature takes advantage of human remains, overthrowing the script to survive, said Marine Conservation Biologist David Johnston with Duke University. He recently mapped the swallowed ships of the First World War which became fauna habitats along the Potomac river in Maryland.

“I think it is a really cool testimony of the strength of life,” said Johnston.

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