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Munitions in the sea

To harm or to kill, munitions are made for. Most munitions are containing explosives or other harmful chemicals. If munitions are rusting on the seabed, these chemicals go into the seawater. Plants, animals and humans can get in contact by swimming or eating. Fish especially get in contact by “breathing” under water. Sometimes even very old munitions explode randomly or when something bumps into them.

Only people who know about this danger can avoid accidents.

What is the purpose of this website?

This website provides information on munitions in the sea. This is important because there are large amounts of munitions at the bottom of the seas, especially in North American and European seas and oceans. To protect us, scientists are doing research. The researchers explain the harm to the environment. People are trying to find ways to get munitions out of the sea again. This will help to preserve healthy and productive seas and oceans for the future.

Why are munitions in the sea?

The munitions are from previous wars. They were deployed for training and military operations. Weapons and explosives sank into the seas during sea battles. Bombs that missed their target went blind. At the end of the World War II in 1945, people deliberately dumped weapons and explosives in the sea to get rid of them. At that time, people did not worry that this could become dangerous later on.

What is so dangerous?

Munitions are containing hazardous chemicals. Mistaking lumps of explosives for pebbles or white phosphorus for amber on beaches may cause direct harm to your skin, especially on your fingers and hands. The chemicals inside the munitions can catch fire instantly if warm, dry and in the air. The munitions can explode too.

The munitions have been under water for nearly 80 years. Many parts of the munitions are made of iron, which rusts in salty seawater. The metal becomes thinner and thinner due to the rust. Holes and cracks appear, and chemicals get into the sea.

Thus, there are two very different dangers: You can be injured by explosion or fire. You can get sick from even very small amounts of these chemicals. But that’s not all. The toxic pollutants are spread in the seawater. Animals such as mussels, fish, and birds will eat them too. The animals become ill or die. If we eat seafood with these chemicals inside, we might get sick from it too.

Can we get munitions out of the sea again?

It is no solution to just blast munitions where it is right now. Underwater blasts are dangerous for life close by. Undetonated pieces of chemicals will remain in the sea. They pollute it more intensely than if released over a long time.

Environmentally friendly methods must be used for remediation. Remediation is possible today. There are safe solutions for many types of munition. Additionally, we need to develop smart technology. In the future, diving robots, rather than humans, should handle life-threatening objects under water. Sinc there is so much munitions in the seas and oceans, it will take many years. To make it happen in time, we need to start now!

The remediation will cost a lot of money. Therefore, rational decisions are important. We must decide based on facts what to take out and how.

Explosions under water – what happens to animals?

An explosion causes a very loud bang in the air. The same happens under water. This bang is called a shockwave. The shockwave kills all life close by. The ears of small whales and seals get hurt. They will die from this injury later.

Extremely dangerous munitions must sometimes be detonated under water. In this case, a curtain of air bubbles around the place of the explosion can reduce the danger of the bang. Other devices can scare away animals to keep them away from the explosion. Today too many blasts happen. We need to protect reefs and marine animals from harm caused by us humans.

What happens to salvaged munitions on land?

On land, experts take any munitions to safe and well-guarded places. They investigate all details and decide on the final demolition. Some munitions can be dismantled, and individual parts are recycled, disposed of or incinerated in an environmentally friendly way. Other objects are simply cut into pieces. These pieces are then placed into heated chambers, where everything is burned. The chambers are equipped with smart technology to control and clean all the gases released from the burned munitions.