Nazi Explosives, Torpedoes and Mines: How Ocean Creatures Thrives on Dumped Armaments

In the slightly salty waters off the Germany's coast lies a wasteland of Nazi bombs, torpedo heads and naval mines. Dumped from vessels at the conclusion of the World War II and neglected, thousands explosives have accumulated over the decades. They comprise a corroding carpet on the shallow, silty seafloor of the Lübeck Bay in the western tip of the Baltic.

Over the years, the wartime weapons was overlooked and forgotten about. A increasing amount of visitors came to the sandy beaches and tranquil sea for jetskiing, kiteboarding and entertainment venues. Beneath the surface, the munitions eroded.

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

When the initial researchers went searching to see what they were affecting to the marine environment, some of us thought they would find a barren area, with no organisms because it was all toxic, explains the lead researcher.

What they discovered surprised them. Vedenin recalls his colleagues reacting with shock when the ROV first sent the images back. That moment was a remarkable experience, he says.

Numerous of sea creatures had made their homes amid the weapons, developing a regenerated habitat denser than the seabed nearby.

This marine city was testament to the tenacity of marine life. Indeed astonishing how much marine organisms we observe in areas that are considered dangerous and risky, he states.

In excess of 40 starfish had clustered on to one visible chunk of TNT. They were dwelling on metal shells, ignition chambers and storage boxes just centimetres from its explosive filling. Marine fish, crustaceans, sea anemones and bivalves were all discovered on the historic weapons. It resembles a coral reef in terms of the amount of animal life that was inhabiting the area, states Vedenin.

Remarkable Creature Concentration

An mean of more than 40,000 creatures were living on every square metre of the weapons, experts reported in their research on the observation. The nearby seabed was much less diverse, with only eight thousand creatures on every meter squared.

It is surprising that objects that are intended to kill everything are attracting so much life, says Vedenin. One can observe how nature adjusts after a catastrophic event such as the World War II and how, in some way, marine life finds its way to the most dangerous places.

Man-made Features as Marine Environments

Man-made constructions such as sunken vessels, offshore windfarms, oil rigs and undersea pipes can offer alternatives, compensating for some of the destroyed marine environment. This research reveals that weapons could be similarly advantageous – the proliferation of life on those in the Lübeck Bay is likely to be repeated in other locations.

Between the late 1940s and the post-war period, 1.6m tons of munitions were dumped off the Germany's coast. Countless of workers placed them in boats; some were dropped in designated sites, the remainder just discarded at sea while traveling. This is the first time scientists have studied how marine life has adapted.

Global Instances of Marine Transformation

• In the United States, decommissioned energy installations have become coral reefs
• Sunken ships from the World War I have become habitats for wildlife along the Potomac River in the state of Maryland
• Military vehicle parts that have become environment to coral off Asan in the Pacific island

These areas become even more valuable for marine life as the oceans are increasingly denuded by commercial fishing, seafloor dredging and boat mooring. Sunken ships and weapons dump sites practically serve as sanctuaries – they are not national parks, but nearly any kind of anthropogenic disturbance is prohibited, explains Vedenin. Therefore a many of species that are usually rare or diminishing, such as the Baltic cod, are flourishing.

Future Considerations

Wherever warfare has taken place in the last century, nearby oceans are often strewn with munitions, states Vedenin. Millions of tonnes of explosive material lie in our seas.

The locations of these explosives are inadequately mapped, in part because of sovereign limits, restricted military information and the fact that archives are stored in historic archives. They present an explosion and safety risk, as well as danger from the ongoing leakage of poisonous compounds.

As the German government and other countries embark on removing these artifacts, researchers aim to protect the habitats that have formed in their vicinity. In the Lübeck Bay munitions are already being removed.

Researchers recommend replace these metal carcasses left from weapons with some safer, various harmless objects, like possibly concrete structures, suggests Vedenin.

He now aspires that what happens in the Bay of Lübeck establishes a model for replacing habitats after munitions removal in other locations – because even the most harmful armaments can become framework for marine organisms.