Scientists discover ocean life thriving on sunken WWII explosives

Scientists have recently found a marine ecosystem consisting of worms, fish, and crabs flourishing on the surfaces of World War II discarded explosives.

Ocean creatures are seen living on the top of warheads and nukes which are thought to be toxic, in the Baltic Sea’s former weapons dump site.

The recent discovery challenges researchers’ understanding of ocean creatures’ tolerance against toxic materials.

According to study author Andrey Vedenin with the Senckenberg Research Institute in Germany, “We were prepared to see significantly lower numbers of all kinds of animals. But it turned out the opposite.”

Previous studies conducted on World War I shipwreck supported the fact that these explosives can offer suitable habitats for wildlife.

The recent research study published in Communications Earth & Environment substantiated previous studies’ arguments and suggested that marine creatures can withstand high levels of toxic compounds if there is a hard surface to support their existence.

During the study, scientists captured starfish, anemones, and other organisms in the Bay of Lübeck off the coast of Germany who were crawling on pieces of V-1 flying bombs employed by Nazi Germany.

“Normally, one does not study the ecology of bombs,” commented University of Georgia ecologist James Porter.

Among all the sea creatures, the Atlantic cod, sea anemone, a species of worm, starfish, and the European green crab were found to be present on explosives rather than on surrounding seabed.