Nazi Explosives, Torpedo Heads and Naval Mines: The Way Ocean Creatures Prosper on Discarded Weapons

In the slightly salty waters off the German coast sits a graveyard of Nazi bombs, torpedoes and naval mines. Thrown off barges at the end of the World War II and left behind, countless munitions have accumulated over the decades. They form a corroding blanket on the low-depth, silty seafloor of the Bay of Lübeck in the western part of the Baltic Sea.

Over the years, the wartime weapons was ignored and forgotten about. A growing number of tourists flocked to the coastal areas and calm waters for jetskiing, kiteboarding and amusement parks. Below the waves, the weapons eroded.

We initially anticipated to see a lifeless zone, with no life because it was all poisoned, says Andrey Vedenin.

When the first scientists went investigating to see what they were affecting to the ecosystem, researchers expected to see a barren area, with no life because it was all poisoned, states a scientist.

What they observed amazed them. Vedenin recalls his colleagues shouting with surprise when the submersible first sent the images back. It was a remarkable experience, he says.

Numerous of ocean life had made their homes on the weapons, forming a revitalized marine community more populous than the ocean bottom nearby.

This ocean community was proof to the persistence of life. It is actually remarkable how much life we observe in areas that are supposed to be toxic and harmful, he explains.

In excess of 40 sea stars had gathered on to one exposed fragment of TNT. They were living on steel casings, fuse pockets and transport cases just a short distance from its explosive filling. Marine fish, crabs, anemones and mussels were all found on the old munitions. It resembles a coral reef in terms of the amount of creatures that was there, states Vedenin.

Surprising Creature Concentration

An mean of more than forty thousand creatures were living on every square metre of the weapons, experts documented in their study on the observation. The adjacent region was much poorer in life, with only eight thousand individuals on every meter squared.

It is ironic that objects that are designed to destroy everything are attracting so much life, says Vedenin. It's evident 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 risky locations.

Man-made Features as Ocean Habitats

Man-made constructions such as shipwrecks, offshore windfarms, oil rigs and undersea pipes can offer replacements, restoring some of the destroyed habitat. This investigation reveals that explosives could be comparably positive – the proliferation of life on those in the Lübeck Bay is probable to be repeated in other locations.

Between 1946 and 1948, 1.6 million tonnes of weapons were disposed of off the German coast. Numerous of individuals transported them in vessels; a portion were dropped in designated sites, the remainder just dumped while traveling. This is the first time researchers have studied how ocean organisms has responded.

Worldwide Instances of Marine Transformation

• In the United States, decommissioned energy installations have transformed into coral reefs
• Shipwrecks from the World War I have become homes for marine life along the Potomac in the state of Maryland
• Tank tracks that have become home to reef-building organisms off Asan in Guam

These areas become even more important for organisms as the marine environments are increasingly stripped by fishing, bottom trawling and anchoring. Sunken ships and munitions areas essentially act as protected areas – they are not national parks, but virtually any kind of human activity is restricted, explains Vedenin. Consequently a lot of organisms that are typically rare or declining, such as the cod fish, are flourishing.

Future Considerations

Wherever armed conflict has occurred in the recent history, nearby oceans are usually strewn with weapons, says Vedenin. Many millions of tons of dangerous substances remain in our seas.

The sites of these munitions are insufficiently mapped, partially because of international boundaries, restricted defense data and the situation that documents are hidden in historical records. They pose an explosion and safety danger, as well as risk from the persistent emission of toxic chemicals.

As the German government and other countries embark on extracting these artifacts, researchers plan to safeguard the marine communities that have formed around them. In the Lübeck Bay weapons are currently being extracted.

It would be wise to replace these iron structures originating from munitions with some less dangerous, various harmless materials, like perhaps man-made habitats, states Vedenin.

He presently aspires that what transpires in Lübeck creates a precedent for substituting material after munitions removal in other locations – because including the most harmful weaponry can become scaffolding for ocean ecosystems.