Nazi Explosives, Torpedoes and Mines: How Ocean Creatures Prosper on Discarded Weapons

In the brackish waters off the German coast rests a collection of Nazi bombs, torpedo heads and mines. Dumped from vessels at the conclusion of the World War II and left behind, thousands explosives have become matted together over the decades. They form a decaying layer on the shallow, muddy ocean floor of the Lübeck Bay in the western tip of the Baltic.

Over the decades, the explosive stockpile was ignored and neglected. A growing number of tourists traveled to the sandy beaches and tranquil sea for jetskiing, kite surfing and entertainment venues. Underwater, the weapons deteriorated.

Some of us anticipated to see a barren area, with no life because it was all toxic, explains a scientist.

When the team went searching to see what they were affecting to the marine environment, some of us expected to see a barren area, with nothing living there because it was all poisoned, states Andrey Vedenin.

What they discovered surprised them. Vedenin recalls his team members shouting with surprise when the ROV first sent the images back. It was a great moment, he recalls.

Thousands of sea creatures had made their homes on the munitions, forming a renewed habitat denser than the seabed surrounding it.

This marine city was proof to the resilience of marine life. It is actually remarkable how much life we find in locations that are considered hazardous and harmful, he says.

In excess of 40 sea stars had clustered on to one accessible fragment of TNT. They were dwelling on metal shells, ignition chambers and transport cases just centimetres from its volatile core. Fish, crabs, sea anemones and mussels were all found on the old munitions. It's similar to a reef ecosystem in terms of the quantity of fauna that was present, says Vedenin.

Unexpected Population Density

An mean of more than 40,000 creatures were living on every square metre of the munitions, experts documented in their research on the discovery. The adjacent region was much less diverse, with only eight thousand organisms on every square metre.

It is ironic that things that are designed to kill everything are attracting so much marine organisms, states Vedenin. One can observe how nature evolves after a devastating occurrence such as the World War II and how, in certain respects, marine life establishes itself to the most dangerous locations.

Artificial Structures as Ocean Environments

Man-made structures such as sunken vessels, offshore windfarms, drilling platforms and pipelines can create replacements, restoring some of the lost habitat. This investigation demonstrates that weapons could be comparably positive – the explosion of marine organisms on those in the Lübeck Bay is probable to be duplicated elsewhere.

Between the late 1940s and the post-war period, 1.6 million tonnes of arms were dumped off the German coast. Countless of workers transported them in boats; a portion were deposited in specific locations, others just thrown overboard en route. This is the first time experts have recorded how marine life has responded.

Worldwide Instances of Marine Adaptation

• In the US, retired drilling platforms have turned into reef ecosystems
• Submerged vessels from the World War I have become habitats for creatures along the Potomac River in the state of Maryland
• Military vehicle parts that have become environment to reef-building organisms off Asan in the Pacific island

These places become even more valuable for marine life as the oceans are increasingly stripped by fishing, seafloor dredging and boat mooring. Shipwrecks and munitions areas practically act as refuges – they are not official reserves, but almost any kind of human activity is banned, states Vedenin. Consequently a numerous of organisms that are otherwise scarce or diminishing, such as the Baltic cod, are flourishing.

Coming Issues

Wherever warfare has taken place in the past 100 years, nearby oceans are typically containing munitions, states Vedenin. Millions of tons of dangerous substances rest in our seas.

The sites of these explosives are poorly documented, partly because of sovereign limits, classified armed forces records and the situation that records are hidden in old files. They present an detonation and safety danger, as well as threat from the continuous release of poisonous compounds.

As Germany and different states start extracting these remains, scientists plan to protect the marine communities that have formed nearby. In the Bay of Lübeck munitions are already being removed.

Researchers recommend substitute these steel remains remaining from munitions with some safer, some non-dangerous materials, like possibly concrete structures, states Vedenin.

He presently wishes that what occurs in the Bay of Lübeck creates a precedent for substituting material after explosive extraction in different areas – because including the most damaging weaponry can become foundation for marine organisms.