Thousands of marine animals have found alive on engulfed warheads of the Second World War

All over the world, the forgotten vestiges of war are hidden underwater. Although it was illegal now, before 1972, countries often used the sea as a discharge for explosive weapons that were no longer necessary. But these ammunition has not been unused long. Instead, thousands of species of marine fauna now recall these weapons of water at home.

In double studies published in Earth & Environment Communications And Scientific dataThe researchers studied these communities of unique wild animals in the hope of discovering why and how these animals live on such dangerous materials.

“Despite the potential negative effects of compounds of toxic ammunition, published underwater images show dense populations of algae, hydroids, mussels and other epifaine on munition objects, including mines, torpedo heads, bombs and wooden cases,” said the research team in an article.

Learn more: 4 famous wrecks that you can visit

Wildlife living on the warheads of the Second World War

The first study focused on fauna living in a discharge recently discovered in Lübeck bay, which is part of the Baltic Sea. Here, the team has located a collection of V-1 The flying bombs ones that would have been used by Nazi Germany during the Second World War.

Using a submersible from a remote controlled, the team was able to identify thousands of organisms living on the hard surface of these warheads. Surprisingly, there were more organizations living on warheads than living in surrounding and apparently safer sediments. The sediments contained approximately 8,200 organizations per square meter, compared to 43,000 organisms per square meter on warheads.

This observation left the researchers with a confusing question: why would so many organizations choose to live on thrown weapons – some with concentrations of toxic compounds sufficiently high to be fatal in marine life – rather than in sediments?

It seems that marine life chooses to call the weapons of war at home for two main reasons. First, many organizations have been captured alive on external envelopes rather than near any exposed exposed material. This suggests that marine life is actively aware and avoids the most dangerous areas. Second, they really like hard surfaces. When presented with the sediment options Squisy compared to the hard shell of the warhead, most organisms are ready to take the risk of the more stable surface.

These observations show that the threads thrown have become a crucial part of the habitat in the bay of Lübeck. However, researchers believe that warheads should always be deleted and replaced by safer artificial hard surfaces so that organisms are prosperous without any risk of damage.

Pollution of wildlife and war: an American example

The “ghost fleet” of Mallows Bay is the subject of study of the second group of researchers. Located on the Potomac river in Maryland, the “ghost fleet” includes 147 deliberately burned and sunk wars built during the First World War. Like the warheads of the Baltic Sea, these sunken ships have become crucial for local fauna.

“Not only do wrecks have significant cultural and historical resources, but they also have ecological resources because they become important habitats for a variety of species,” said David Johnson and his team in an article. “In the potomac, large beds of aquatic vegetation overwhelmed in this region offer large food and nursery habitats for a variety of birds, fish, reptiles, amphibians, invertebrates and mammals.”

From the Atlantic Sturgeon to the Ospreys, many different species call these shipwrecks in them. To better understand the use of wrecks, the researchers created high resolution photographic cards for each wreckage using air drones. They hope that this map can be useful for more archaeological, ecological and cultural studies in the region.

Learn more: Shipwrecks are full of underwater life, from microbes to sharks

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