Nazi Munitions, Torpedoes and Mines: The Way Ocean Creatures Prosper on Discarded Weapons

In the slightly salty waters off the German shoreline rests a graveyard of Nazi bombs, torpedo heads and mines. Dumped from barges at the conclusion of the second world war and forgotten about, countless munitions have fused into clusters over the decades. They comprise a rusting blanket on the shallow, silty ocean floor of the Lübeck Bay in the western tip of the Baltic.

Over the decades, the explosive stockpile was ignored and neglected. A growing number of tourists traveled to the coastal areas and calm waters for jetskiing, kite surfing and amusement parks. Underwater, the weapons deteriorated.

Some of us expected to see a barren area, with nothing living there because it was all poisoned, states Andrey Vedenin.

When the team went investigating to see what they were affecting to the ecosystem, researchers thought they would find a lifeless zone, with no organisms because it was all poisoned, states the lead researcher.

What they observed amazed them. Vedenin remembers his scientists exclaiming in amazement when the submersible first transmitted footage. It was a memorable occasion, he says.

Numerous of marine animals had settled amid the munitions, forming a revitalized habitat denser than the sea floor surrounding it.

This marine city was testament to the persistence of marine life. Indeed astonishing how much life we find in places that are supposed to be dangerous and dangerous, he says.

Over 40 starfish had piled on to one exposed chunk of TNT. They were residing on metal shells, ignition chambers and transport cases just a short distance from its explosive filling. Marine fish, crabs, anemones and bivalves were all discovered on the discarded explosives. It's similar to a reef ecosystem in terms of the abundance of fauna that was present, notes Vedenin.

Remarkable Population Density

An mean of more than 40,000 animals were dwelling on every square metre of the munitions, researchers documented in their research on the observation. The nearby seabed was much less diverse, with only 8,000 creatures on every meter squared.

It is surprising that objects that are intended to eliminate all life are drawing so much marine organisms, explains Vedenin. You can see how the natural world adjusts after a major disaster such as the World War II and how, in certain respects, life finds its way to the most hazardous locations.

Man-made Structures as Marine Habitats

Artificial constructions such as shipwrecks, offshore windfarms, drilling platforms and undersea pipes can provide alternatives, compensating for some of the destroyed habitat. This study demonstrates that munitions could be equally advantageous – the bloom of marine organisms on those in the Lübeck Bay is probable to be repeated elsewhere.

Between the late 1940s and 1948, 1.6 million tons of arms were disposed of off the German shoreline. Thousands of people transported them in vessels; a portion were dropped in specific locations, the remainder just thrown overboard en route. This is the first time researchers have recorded how ocean organisms has responded.

Worldwide Instances of Marine Transformation

• In the United States, retired energy installations have turned into coral reefs
• Submerged vessels from the first world war have become habitats for creatures along the Potomac in the state of Maryland
• Tank tracks that have become habitat to coral off Asan in the Pacific island

These locations become even more important for marine life as the marine environments are increasingly stripped by fishing, seafloor dredging and anchoring. Shipwrecks and explosive disposal locations essentially serve as protected areas – they are not national parks, but virtually any kind of anthropogenic disturbance is prohibited, states Vedenin. Therefore a many of marine species that are typically scarce or diminishing, such as the Baltic cod, are thriving.

Future Factors

Wherever military conflict has occurred in the past 100 years, surrounding seas are typically littered with weapons, says Vedenin. Many millions of tonnes of explosive material lie in our marine environments.

The positions of these munitions are inadequately recorded, in part because of sovereign limits, restricted armed forces records and the reality that records are hidden in historic archives. They create an explosion and security risk, as well as danger from the ongoing release of toxic chemicals.

As Germany and different states start extracting these relics, researchers plan to preserve the ecosystems that have formed nearby. In the Bay of Lübeck weapons are presently being extracted.

We should substitute these steel remains originating from weapons with certain less dangerous, various harmless objects, like possibly artificial reefs, says Vedenin.

He presently wishes that what transpires in the Bay of Lübeck creates a precedent for replacing material after munitions removal in different areas – because even the most damaging weaponry can become framework for new life.