Scientists exploring a World War II weapons dumpsite in the Baltic Sea have discovered swarms of sea creatures thriving on the surfaces of long-abandoned explosives thought to be toxic to marine life.

An undersea submersible spotted crabs, worms, and fish thriving on top of warheads, even outnumbering creatures lurking in the surrounding seabeds.

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

Germany’s waters alone are home to roughly 1.6 million tons of discarded weapons, mostly from the two world wars in the 20th century.

An undersea submersible spotted crabs, worms, and fish thriving on top of warheads, even outnumbering creatures lur

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