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How marine life is thriving on deadly WWII bombs at the bottom of the sea

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Nature always finds a way, and in this case it’s learning to live with bombs left underwater following World War II. When researchers peered into the Bay of Lübeck, in the German Baltic Sea, they found something surprising — marine colonies thriving on munitions dumped after WWII, despite them containing toxic compounds. In fact, scientists found more creatures living on top of the warheads than in the surrounding seabed (Picture: AP)
This image provided by Andrey Vedenin shows sea creatures living on dumped World War II explosives in the Baltic Sea. (Andrey Vedenin, GEOMAR via AP)
A study found 43,000 individual organisms per square meter living on the surfaces of the unexploded warheads, including five species of invertebrates and three types of fish. German waters alone contain about 1.6 million tons (1.5 million metric tonnes) of dumped weapons, mostly from the two world wars in the 20th century. Dumped relics can contain nuclear and chemical remnants, as well as explosives like TNT (Picture: AP)
This image provided by Andrey Vedenin shows sea creatures living on dumped World War II explosives in the Baltic Sea. (Andrey Vedenin, GEOMAR via AP)
The finding has surprised the researchers. Study author Dr Andrey Vedenin said: ‘We were prepared to see significantly lower numbers of all kinds of animals. But it turned out the opposite.’ Later, in an interview, he added that the finding is ‘a bit ironic’, Forbes reports. He said: ‘The objects that were meant to kill people are now providing a habitat for marine fauna’ (Picture: AP)
This image provided by Andrey Vedenin shows sea creatures living on dumped World War II explosives in the Baltic Sea. (Andrey Vedenin, GEOMAR via AP)
The study is published in the journal Communications Earth and Environment. Researchers  filmed networks of anemones, starfish and other underwater life in the Bay of Lübeck, which were all lurking on pieces of flying bombs used by Nazi Germany. The team first mapped the exact location using high-resolution sonar beams, then filmed the munitions with cameras on a submersible remotely operated vehicle (Picture: AP)
This image provided by Andrey Vedenin shows sea creatures living on dumped World War II explosives in the Baltic Sea. (Andrey Vedenin, GEOMAR via AP)
They also analysed water samples and examined two areas of the sediment in the surrounding sea floor – which remained nearly empty of marine life. The warheads in the Bay of Lübeck are from World War II flying bombs known as V-1s, also known as ‘buzz bombs’ due to the sound their jet engines produced. Species live on the hard surfaces in numbers comparable with those found on natural hard materials such as stones and boulders, the researchers said (Picture: AP)
This image provided by Andrey Vedenin shows sea creatures living on dumped World War II explosives in the Baltic Sea. (Andrey Vedenin, GEOMAR via AP)
So, why would marine life make its home on warheads? The researchers speculate they could be drawn to the hard surfaces, which are in short supply in the Baltic Sea. The sea bed is mainly a flat bed of mud and sand because stones and boulders were fished out of the water for construction in the 1800s and 1900s, the researchers say. And the area is also fairly isolated from human activity because of the chemicals – which created a protective bubble for the creatures to survive, despite the levels of toxins (Picture: AP)
This image provided by Andrey Vedenin shows sea creatures living on dumped World War II explosives in the Baltic Sea. (Andrey Vedenin, GEOMAR via AP)
Now researchers are hoping to calculate how much contamination was absorbed by sea life and see what happens after the creatures settle and whether they’re capable of reproducing. Marine conservation biologist Dr David Johnston with Duke University said research like this is a testament to how nature takes advantage of human leftovers (Picture: AP)



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