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

In the brackish sea off the German shoreline lies a collection of Nazi bombs, torpedo heads and naval mines. Thrown off boats at the conclusion of the World War II and forgotten about, thousands weapons have become matted together over the years. They create a corroding layer on the shallow, muddy ocean floor of the Bay of Lübeck in the western tip of the Baltic Sea.

Over the years, the explosive stockpile was overlooked and forgotten about. A growing number of visitors flocked to the sandy beaches and calm waters for jetskiing, kite surfing and amusement parks. Underwater, the munitions decayed.

Some of us anticipated to see a desert, with no organisms because it was all poisoned, states the lead researcher.

When the team went looking to see what they were affecting to the ecosystem, the team thought they would find a desert, with nothing living there because it was all contaminated, states the lead researcher.

What they discovered surprised them. Vedenin recalls his colleagues shouting with surprise when the ROV first transmitted footage. It was a remarkable experience, he notes.

Countless of marine animals had settled among the weapons, forming a regenerated marine community richer than the seabed nearby.

This underwater metropolis was proof to the resilience of life. Truly astonishing how much life we discover in locations that are expected to be toxic and risky, he explains.

More than 40 starfish had gathered on to one visible chunk of explosive material. They were living on steel casings, detonator compartments and storage boxes just centimetres from its volatile core. Marine fish, crabs, sea anemones and mussels were all discovered on the historic weapons. You could compare it with a marine reef in terms of the amount of fauna that was there, states Vedenin.

Surprising Population Density

An mean of more than forty thousand organisms were residing on every meter squared of the weapons, experts reported in their study on the discovery. The adjacent region was much less diverse, with only 8,000 organisms on every square metre.

It is ironic that things that are intended to destroy everything are hosting so much life, states Vedenin. It's evident how nature adjusts after a devastating occurrence such as the second world war and how, in certain respects, marine life returns to the most risky locations.

Artificial Features as Marine Habitats

Artificial features such as sunken vessels, offshore windfarms, oil rigs and pipelines can provide replacements, compensating for some of the removed marine environment. This investigation demonstrates that weapons could be equally advantageous – the explosion of marine organisms on those in the Lübeck Bay is probable to be duplicated in other locations.

Between 1946 and the post-war period, 1.6 million tons of weapons were discarded off the Germany's coast. Numerous of individuals loaded them in boats; some were placed in allocated sites, others just dumped during transport. This is the first time researchers have studied how ocean organisms has adapted.

Worldwide Examples of Marine Adaptation

• In the US, decommissioned oil and gas structures have transformed into reef ecosystems
• Submerged vessels from the first world war have become homes for creatures along the Potomac River in the state of Maryland
• Tank tracks that have become environment to coral off Asan beach in Guam

These areas become even more valuable for marine life as the seas are increasingly denuded by fishing, seafloor dredging and anchoring. Sunken ships and weapons dump sites practically function as protected areas – they are not national parks, but almost any kind of human activity is prohibited, explains Vedenin. As a result a numerous of organisms that are typically uncommon or declining, such as the Baltic cod, are prospering.

Future Issues

Anywhere armed conflict has happened in the past 100 years, surrounding seas are typically containing weapons, explains Vedenin. Many millions of tons of explosive material lie in our marine environments.

The locations of these explosives are inadequately recorded, in part because of sovereign limits, restricted armed forces records and the reality that records are hidden in old files. They pose an explosion and safety risk, as well as threat from the persistent emission of toxic chemicals.

As the German government and other countries embark on extracting these artifacts, researchers plan to preserve the ecosystems that have formed around them. In the Lübeck Bay weapons are presently being removed.

We should replace these metal carcasses originating from munitions with certain more secure, some safe structures, like possibly concrete structures, states Vedenin.

He presently hopes that what transpires in Lübeck establishes a model for replacing structures after explosive extraction in other locations – because also the most destructive weaponry can become scaffolding for new life.