Nazi Bombs, Torpedoes and Naval Mines: How Ocean Creatures Flourishes on Dumped Weapons

In the slightly salty waters off the Germany's shoreline lies a collection of World War II explosives, torpedoes and mines. Thrown off boats at the conclusion of the second world war and neglected, numerous weapons have fused into clusters over the years. They comprise a rusting blanket on the low-depth, muddy ocean floor of the Lübeck Bay in the western tip of the Baltic.

Over the decades, the Nazi arsenal was ignored and neglected. A growing number of tourists came to the sandy beaches and tranquil sea for water sports, kiteboarding and entertainment venues. Beneath the surface, the weapons decayed.

Some of us anticipated to see a desert, with no life because it was all toxic, explains the lead researcher.

When the first scientists went looking to see what they were doing to the ecosystem, some of us expected to see a lifeless zone, with no organisms because it was all toxic, states a scientist.

What they discovered amazed them. Vedenin recounts his team members reacting with shock when the submersible first sent the images back. It was a memorable occasion, he says.

Numerous of marine animals had settled on the munitions, developing a regenerated ecosystem more populous than the sea floor surrounding it.

This underwater metropolis was testament to the persistence of marine life. Truly remarkable how much life we find in areas that are supposed to be dangerous and risky, he explains.

In excess of 40 sea stars had clustered on to one exposed chunk of TNT. They were living on metal shells, fuse pockets and storage boxes just a short distance from its explosive filling. Marine fish, crustaceans, anemones and bivalves were all found on the historic weapons. It's similar to a marine reef in terms of the quantity of creatures that was present, notes Vedenin.

Unexpected Population Density

An mean of more than forty thousand organisms were living on every square metre of the munitions, experts reported in their research on the discovery. The adjacent region was much poorer in life, with only eight thousand organisms on every meter squared.

It is paradoxical that things that are designed to eliminate everything are hosting so much marine organisms, explains Vedenin. You can see how nature adjusts after a catastrophic event such as the second world war and how, in some way, life finds its way to the most dangerous places.

Artificial Features as Ocean Habitats

Man-made structures such as shipwrecks, offshore windfarms, oil rigs and undersea pipes can create replacements, replacing some of the lost habitat. This research shows that weapons could be similarly positive – the explosion of life on those in the Lübeck Bay is expected to be duplicated elsewhere.

Between 1946 and 1948, 1.6 million tonnes of munitions were dumped off the German shoreline. Thousands of individuals transported them in vessels; some were placed in specific locations, others just discarded at sea during transport. This is the first time experts have recorded how ocean organisms has reacted.

Global Examples of Ocean Adaptation

• In the United States, retired drilling platforms have become reef ecosystems
• Sunken ships from the first world war have become environments for wildlife along the Potomac River in the state of Maryland
• Military vehicle parts that have become environment to reef-building organisms off Asan beach in the Pacific island

These places become even more valuable for wildlife as the oceans are increasingly denuded by commercial fishing, bottom trawling and boat mooring. Shipwrecks and weapons dump sites essentially act as sanctuaries – they are not national parks, but virtually any kind of anthropogenic disturbance is prohibited, says Vedenin. As a result a lot of marine species that are typically scarce or diminishing, such as the Baltic cod, are thriving.

Future Issues

Wherever military conflict has occurred in the past 100 years, surrounding seas are usually strewn with munitions, explains Vedenin. Millions of tonnes of explosive material remain in our marine environments.

The positions of these explosives are poorly documented, partially because of sovereign limits, secret armed forces records and the situation that documents are buried in historical records. They present an explosion and security hazard, as well as threat from the persistent leakage of toxic chemicals.

As the German government and additional nations embark on extracting these relics, researchers plan to safeguard the marine communities that have developed around them. In the Bay of Lübeck munitions are presently being cleared.

Researchers recommend replace these steel remains originating from weapons with certain more secure, various non-dangerous materials, like possibly concrete structures, suggests Vedenin.

He presently wishes that what transpires in Lübeck sets a model for replacing habitats after explosive extraction elsewhere – because even the most harmful armaments can become framework for marine organisms.