Nazi Explosives, Torpedo Heads and Mines: How Marine Life Prosper on Discarded Armaments

In the brackish waters off the German shoreline rests a wasteland of Nazi bombs, torpedoes and mines. Discarded from barges at the end of the second world war and left behind, numerous munitions have become matted together over the years. They comprise a decaying blanket on the shallow, silty seafloor of the Bay of Lübeck in the western tip of the Baltic.

Over the years, the explosive stockpile was overlooked and neglected. A growing number of tourists came to the sandy beaches and tranquil sea for water sports, kiteboarding and amusement parks. Beneath the surface, the weapons deteriorated.

We initially anticipated to see a lifeless zone, with no life because it was all toxic, explains a scientist.

When the first scientists went investigating to see what they were doing to the ecosystem, some of us thought they would find a lifeless zone, with no organisms because it was all contaminated, says a scientist.

What they discovered surprised them. Vedenin remembers his colleagues exclaiming in amazement when the submersible first transmitted footage. That moment was a memorable occasion, he notes.

Countless of sea creatures had made their homes on the weapons, creating a revitalized habitat more populous than the sea floor around it.

This marine city was proof to the persistence of life. It is actually astonishing how much marine organisms we find in areas that are expected to be toxic and harmful, he explains.

More than 40 starfish had gathered on to one accessible chunk of TNT. They were residing on metal shells, ignition chambers and transport cases just a short distance from its volatile core. Marine fish, crabs, anemones and bivalves were all observed on the historic weapons. It's similar to a coral reef in terms of the abundance of creatures that was there, states Vedenin.

Surprising Population Density

An mean of more than 40,000 creatures were residing on every meter squared of the weapons, researchers documented in their paper on the discovery. The nearby seabed was much sparser, with only 8,000 creatures on every square metre.

It is surprising that things that are intended to eliminate everything are attracting so much life, says Vedenin. It's evident how the natural world adjusts after a catastrophic event such as the World War II and how, in certain respects, marine life establishes itself to the most risky locations.

Man-made Structures as Marine Environments

Man-made constructions such as sunken vessels, offshore windfarms, drilling platforms and pipelines can create alternatives, restoring some of the destroyed habitat. This investigation demonstrates that weapons could be equally positive – the bloom of life on those in the Lübeck Bay is probable to be found elsewhere.

Between the late 1940s and the post-war period, 1.6m tonnes of weapons were disposed of off the Germany's shoreline. Numerous of people placed them in vessels; some were dropped in specific locations, the remainder just thrown overboard while traveling. This is the initial instance scientists have studied how ocean organisms has responded.

Global Instances of Ocean Transformation

• In the US, decommissioned oil and gas structures have transformed into coral reefs
• Shipwrecks from the World War I have become homes for creatures along the Potomac River in Maryland
• Tank tracks that have become environment to coral off Asan beach in Guam

These locations become even more valuable for organisms as the oceans are increasingly depleted by commercial fishing, bottom trawling and anchoring. Shipwrecks and explosive disposal locations essentially serve as sanctuaries – they are not national parks, but virtually any kind of anthropogenic disturbance is restricted, states Vedenin. As a result a numerous of marine species that are typically rare or declining, such as the Baltic cod, are prospering.

Future Issues

Anywhere military conflict has occurred in the past 100 years, surrounding seas are usually containing explosives, explains Vedenin. Millions of tonnes of dangerous substances lie in our seas.

The locations of these explosives are insufficiently recorded, partly because of sovereign limits, secret defense data and the reality that archives are buried in historic archives. They pose an explosion and safety risk, as well as threat from the persistent release of poisonous compounds.

As Germany and other countries embark on extracting these artifacts, experts aim to protect the ecosystems that have developed around them. In the Lübeck Bay weapons are currently being extracted.

Researchers recommend replace these metal carcasses left from munitions with some more secure, various non-dangerous objects, like perhaps concrete structures, says Vedenin.

He presently wishes that what happens in the Bay of Lübeck creates a example for substituting habitats after explosive extraction in different areas – because even the most destructive explosives can become foundation for ocean ecosystems.