Nazi Bombs, Torpedo Heads and Mines: How Ocean Creatures Prosper on Dumped Weapons

In the brackish sea off the Germany's shoreline rests a wasteland of Nazi bombs, torpedo heads and mines. Thrown off vessels at the conclusion of the second world war and neglected, numerous explosives have accumulated over the decades. They comprise a decaying layer on the shallow, silty ocean floor of the Lübeck Bay in the western part of the Baltic.

Over the decades, the Nazi arsenal was overlooked and forgotten about. A growing number of tourists came to the coastal areas and calm waters for water sports, kiteboarding and entertainment venues. Underwater, the munitions deteriorated.

Some of us thought to see a barren area, with no organisms because it was all toxic, states a scientist.

When the initial researchers went searching to see what they were doing to the marine environment, researchers anticipated finding a lifeless zone, with nothing living there because it was all toxic, says the lead researcher.

What they found astonished them. Vedenin recounts his team members exclaiming in amazement when the submersible first transmitted footage. This was a memorable occasion, he notes.

Numerous of ocean life had made their homes amid the weapons, creating a revitalized marine community richer than the ocean bottom nearby.

This underwater metropolis was evidence to the resilience of marine life. It is actually remarkable how much marine organisms we find in locations that are considered dangerous and risky, he says.

In excess of 40 sea stars had clustered on to one exposed piece of TNT. They were living on steel casings, ignition chambers and carrying containers just a short distance from its dangerous content. Marine fish, crabs, sea anemones and mussels were all found on the historic weapons. You could compare it with a coral reef in terms of the quantity of fauna that was inhabiting the area, states Vedenin.

Remarkable Population Density

An mean of more than 40,000 organisms were dwelling on every square metre of the munitions, scientists wrote in their paper on the finding. The surrounding area was much less diverse, with only eight thousand creatures on every meter squared.

It is paradoxical that items that are meant to eliminate everything are attracting so much marine organisms, explains Vedenin. One can observe how nature adapts 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 Environments

Artificial constructions such as shipwrecks, offshore windfarms, drilling platforms and undersea pipes can create substitutes, restoring some of the destroyed habitat. This study shows that explosives could be comparably advantageous – the bloom of life on those in the Lübeck Bay is likely to be found in different areas.

Between the late 1940s and the post-war period, 1.6 million tonnes of weapons were disposed of off the Germany's shoreline. Numerous of workers transported them in barges; some were dropped in designated areas, the remainder just discarded at sea during transport. This is the first time experts have recorded how marine life has responded.

Global Instances of Marine Transformation

• In the US, retired oil and gas structures have transformed into reef ecosystems
• Sunken ships from the first world war have become habitats for wildlife along the Potomac in Maryland
• Tank tracks that have become habitat to coral off Asan beach in the Pacific island

These areas become even more valuable for marine life as the marine environments are increasingly denuded by fishing, seafloor dredging and boat mooring. Shipwrecks and munitions areas practically function as sanctuaries – they are not national parks, but virtually any kind of human activity is restricted, explains Vedenin. Consequently a many of species that are usually scarce or declining, such as the cod fish, are prospering.

Future Issues

Anywhere military conflict has occurred in the recent history, surrounding seas are typically strewn with explosives, explains Vedenin. Many millions of tons of dangerous substances rest in our marine environments.

The locations of these explosives are inadequately recorded, partly because of sovereign limits, secret military information and the reality that documents are hidden in old files. They pose an explosion and safety risk, as well as danger from the continuous leakage of poisonous compounds.

As the German government and other countries begin extracting these remains, researchers plan to protect the marine communities that have formed in their vicinity. In the Bay of Lübeck munitions are already being extracted.

It would be wise to replace these metal carcasses remaining from weapons with some less dangerous, various safe structures, like possibly concrete structures, suggests Vedenin.

He now aspires that what occurs in Lübeck sets a precedent for substituting material after explosive extraction in other locations – because also the most damaging armaments can become framework for marine organisms.