Nazi Explosives, Torpedoes and Naval Mines: The Way Ocean Creatures Thrives on Discarded Armaments

In the brackish waters off the Germany's coast lies a wasteland of Nazi bombs, torpedo heads and mines. Discarded from boats at the conclusion of the second world war and forgotten about, thousands munitions have accumulated over the years. They form a decaying layer on the shallow, muddy seafloor of the Lübeck Bay in the western part of the Baltic.

Over the years, the wartime weapons was ignored and neglected. A growing number of tourists flocked to the sandy beaches and tranquil sea for water sports, kiteboarding and entertainment venues. Below the waves, the weapons deteriorated.

Some of us thought to see a lifeless zone, with nothing living there because it was all toxic, states the lead researcher.

When the initial researchers went searching to see what they were affecting to the marine environment, researchers expected to see a desert, with nothing living there because it was all contaminated, states Andrey Vedenin.

What they observed surprised them. Vedenin recalls his team members shouting with surprise when the submersible first sent the images back. This was a remarkable experience, he notes.

Countless of marine animals had made their homes among the explosives, developing a renewed ecosystem more populous than the ocean bottom surrounding it.

This marine city was testament to the resilience of marine life. Truly astonishing how much life we discover in places that are expected to be toxic and dangerous, he says.

In excess of 40 starfish had gathered on to one accessible chunk of TNT. They were living on steel casings, detonator compartments and transport cases just centimetres from its volatile core. Fish, crabs, anemones and mussels were all observed on the historic weapons. It resembles a coral reef in terms of the amount of creatures that was there, says Vedenin.

Unexpected Population Density

An mean of more than 40,000 organisms were dwelling on every meter squared of the munitions, experts reported in their research on the observation. The adjacent region was much less diverse, with only eight thousand organisms on every meter squared.

It is surprising that items that are intended to kill everything are drawing so much life, says Vedenin. It's evident how nature 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.

Artificial Structures as Marine Environments

Artificial structures such as shipwrecks, wind turbines, drilling platforms and undersea pipes can offer substitutes, restoring some of the destroyed habitat. This research reveals that explosives could be equally advantageous – the explosion of marine organisms on those in the Bay of Lübeck is expected to be duplicated elsewhere.

Between the late 1940s and the post-war period, 1.6 million tons of arms were dumped off the Germany's coast. Thousands of workers transported them in barges; a portion were deposited in specific areas, others just dumped during transport. This is the first time researchers have recorded how ocean organisms has reacted.

Global Examples of Ocean Adaptation

• In the US, decommissioned drilling platforms have become marine habitats
• Submerged vessels from the first world war have become environments for creatures along the Potomac River in Maryland
• Military vehicle parts that have become home to reef-building organisms off Asan in Guam

These locations become even more valuable for organisms as the seas are increasingly depleted by fishing, seafloor dredging and boat mooring. Sunken ships and munitions areas effectively function as refuges – they are not national parks, but virtually any kind of anthropogenic disturbance is restricted, explains Vedenin. Therefore a lot of species that are typically scarce or decreasing, such as the Baltic cod, are prospering.

Coming Issues

Wherever military conflict has taken place in the past 100 years, adjacent waters are usually littered with munitions, explains Vedenin. Millions of tons of dangerous substances lie in our seas.

The positions of these weapons are insufficiently recorded, in part because of international boundaries, secret armed forces records and the reality that records are buried in historic archives. They pose an explosion and security risk, as well as risk from the continuous emission of hazardous substances.

As the German government and different states begin clearing these relics, scientists plan to protect the ecosystems that have developed nearby. In the Bay of Lübeck explosives are currently being removed.

It would be wise to replace these metal carcasses left from munitions with certain more secure, some safe materials, like perhaps artificial reefs, says Vedenin.

He now wishes that what occurs in the Bay of Lübeck sets a example for substituting material after munitions removal in different areas – because even the most damaging explosives can become scaffolding for marine organisms.