Nazi Bombs, Torpedo Heads and Naval Mines: The Way Ocean Creatures Thrives on Abandoned Armaments

In the brackish waters off the German coast sits a collection of World War II explosives, torpedo heads and naval mines. Discarded from barges at the end of the second world war and left behind, countless weapons have fused into clusters over the decades. They comprise a decaying blanket on the shallow, silty seafloor of the Bay of Lübeck in the western tip of the Baltic.

Over the years, the Nazi arsenal was ignored and neglected. A increasing amount of tourists traveled to the coastal areas and tranquil sea for water sports, kiteboarding and amusement parks. Below the waves, the weapons decayed.

Some of us expected to see a lifeless zone, with no organisms because it was all poisoned, states Andrey Vedenin.

When the first scientists went looking to see what they were doing to the marine environment, the team thought they would find a desert, with nothing living there because it was all toxic, states Andrey Vedenin.

What they observed surprised them. Vedenin recalls his scientists reacting with shock when the underwater vehicle first sent the images back. This was a remarkable experience, he recalls.

Thousands of sea creatures had made their homes on the explosives, creating a revitalized habitat denser than the ocean bottom around it.

This ocean community was testament to the persistence of marine life. Truly surprising how much marine organisms we observe in areas that are supposed to be dangerous and risky, he states.

Over 40 starfish had clustered on to one accessible chunk of explosive material. They were residing on metal shells, fuse pockets and transport cases just a short distance from its explosive filling. Fish, crustaceans, sea anemones and mussels were all observed on the discarded explosives. You could compare it with a reef ecosystem in terms of the amount of fauna that was inhabiting the area, states Vedenin.

Surprising Population Density

An average of more than 40,000 creatures were living on every meter squared of the explosives, scientists reported in their study on the finding. The adjacent region was much sparser, with only 8,000 creatures on every meter squared.

It is paradoxical that things that are meant to eliminate everything are attracting so much life, explains Vedenin. You can see how nature adjusts after a devastating occurrence such as the World War II and how, in some way, marine life finds its way to the most risky areas.

Artificial Structures as Ocean Environments

Artificial features such as sunken vessels, wind turbines, drilling platforms and pipelines can create substitutes, replacing some of the removed habitat. This research shows that explosives could be comparably beneficial – the bloom of life on those in the Lübeck Bay is expected to be duplicated in other locations.

Between 1946 and the post-war period, 1.6 million tons of munitions were dumped off the Germany's coast. Countless of individuals loaded them in vessels; a portion were dropped in specific areas, the remainder just discarded at sea en route. This is the first time scientists have recorded how ocean organisms has reacted.

Worldwide Instances of Ocean Adaptation

• In the US, retired oil and gas structures have transformed into marine habitats
• Shipwrecks from the first world war have become habitats for marine life along the Potomac in the state of Maryland
• Tank tracks that have become habitat to reef-building organisms off Asan in the Pacific island

These places become even more valuable for marine life as the marine environments are increasingly denuded by commercial fishing, bottom trawling and boat mooring. Sunken ships and weapons dump sites essentially serve as refuges – they are not national parks, but nearly any kind of anthropogenic disturbance is banned, says Vedenin. As a result a lot of organisms that are usually uncommon or declining, such as the Baltic cod, are thriving.

Coming Considerations

Anywhere warfare has taken place in the last century, surrounding seas are often containing weapons, states Vedenin. Many millions of tons of volatile compounds lie in our oceans.

The sites of these explosives are insufficiently recorded, partially because of national borders, classified armed forces records and the situation that records are buried in historic archives. They create an explosion and safety danger, as well as threat from the continuous release of hazardous substances.

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

Researchers recommend substitute these steel remains originating from munitions with some safer, various safe materials, like perhaps concrete structures, states Vedenin.

He presently wishes that what happens in the Bay of Lübeck creates a precedent for replacing habitats after weapon clearance elsewhere – because including the most destructive weaponry can become scaffolding for ocean ecosystems.