Nazi Bombs, Torpedo Heads and Naval Mines: The Way Ocean Creatures Thrives on Discarded Weapons

In the brackish waters off the Germany's coast lies a graveyard of World War II explosives, torpedoes and naval mines. Discarded from barges at the conclusion of the second world war and forgotten about, countless explosives have fused into clusters over the decades. They form a corroding blanket on the low-depth, muddy seafloor of the Bay of Lübeck in the western part of the Baltic Sea.

Over the decades, the Nazi arsenal was overlooked and neglected. A increasing amount of tourists traveled to the coastal areas and calm waters for water sports, kite surfing and entertainment venues. Below the waves, the weapons eroded.

We initially anticipated to see a lifeless zone, with no life because it was all poisoned, says the lead researcher.

When the first scientists went looking to see what they were doing to the ecosystem, some of us thought they would find a barren area, with nothing living there because it was all contaminated, says Andrey Vedenin.

What they discovered astonished them. Vedenin remembers his team members reacting with shock when the underwater vehicle first relayed pictures. That moment was a great moment, he says.

Countless of sea creatures had established habitats amid the explosives, creating a regenerated habitat more populous than the ocean bottom nearby.

This marine city was testament to the resilience of life. It is actually surprising how much marine organisms we discover in places that are expected to be toxic and dangerous, he states.

In excess of 40 starfish had clustered on to one visible chunk of TNT. They were living on steel casings, detonator compartments and storage boxes just centimetres from its explosive filling. Fish, crustaceans, anemones and bivalves were all discovered on the historic weapons. You could compare it with a coral reef in terms of the amount of fauna that was inhabiting the area, says Vedenin.

Surprising Creature Concentration

An mean of more than forty thousand organisms were residing on every square metre of the weapons, experts documented in their study on the observation. The surrounding area was much sparser, with only eight thousand creatures on every meter squared.

It is paradoxical that items that are intended to kill all life are hosting so much life, explains Vedenin. You can see how the natural world adapts after a devastating occurrence such as the World War II and how, in certain respects, life finds its way to the most dangerous areas.

Man-made Structures as Marine Environments

Man-made structures such as shipwrecks, offshore windfarms, drilling platforms and pipelines can create replacements, restoring some of the destroyed marine environment. This research demonstrates that weapons could be similarly positive – the explosion of life on those in the Lübeck Bay is likely to be repeated in other locations.

Between the late 1940s and 1948, 1.6m tonnes of arms were dumped off the German shoreline. Numerous of people transported them in barges; a portion were dropped in designated sites, others just dumped while traveling. This is the initial instance researchers have documented how marine life has adapted.

Global Examples of Marine Adaptation

• In the US, decommissioned oil and gas structures have transformed into marine habitats
• Sunken ships from the World War I have become environments for creatures along the Potomac in Maryland
• Military vehicle parts that have become home to coral off Asan beach in the Pacific island

These areas become even more valuable for wildlife as the oceans are increasingly stripped by commercial fishing, seafloor dredging and anchoring. Shipwrecks and munitions areas essentially serve as refuges – they are not official reserves, but virtually any kind of anthropogenic disturbance is restricted, states Vedenin. As a result a many of marine species that are typically rare or diminishing, such as the Baltic cod, are flourishing.

Coming Factors

Anywhere warfare has taken place in the recent history, adjacent waters are often strewn with munitions, explains Vedenin. Many millions of tonnes of volatile compounds lie in our seas.

The positions of these weapons are inadequately documented, in part because of sovereign limits, classified defense data and the situation that records are stored in historical records. They present an detonation and security danger, as well as threat from the ongoing leakage of toxic chemicals.

As Germany and other countries begin removing these remains, researchers plan to protect the ecosystems that have developed in their vicinity. In the Lübeck Bay explosives are currently being extracted.

We should substitute these steel remains originating from munitions with some less dangerous, various harmless structures, like perhaps artificial reefs, says Vedenin.

He now hopes that what happens in the Bay of Lübeck establishes a example for substituting structures after weapon clearance in different areas – because also the most destructive weaponry can become framework for new life.