Nazi Bombs, Torpedoes and Mines: The Way Ocean Creatures Flourishes on Abandoned Weapons

In the brackish waters off the Germany's shoreline rests a collection of World War II explosives, torpedo heads and naval mines. Thrown off boats at the conclusion of the second world war and neglected, numerous munitions have fused into clusters over the decades. They form a decaying carpet on the low-depth, silty seafloor of the Bay of Lübeck in the western tip of the Baltic Sea.

Over the years, the Nazi arsenal was overlooked and forgotten about. A increasing amount of visitors traveled to the sandy beaches and calm waters for jetskiing, kite surfing and entertainment venues. Underwater, the weapons deteriorated.

Some of us anticipated to see a lifeless zone, with nothing living there because it was all toxic, explains a scientist.

When the team went searching to see what they were affecting to the marine environment, researchers thought they would find a barren area, with nothing living there because it was all poisoned, says the lead researcher.

What they observed astonished them. Vedenin remembers his colleagues exclaiming in amazement when the underwater vehicle first relayed pictures. This was a remarkable experience, he recalls.

Countless of ocean life had established habitats amid the munitions, creating a revitalized habitat richer than the ocean bottom nearby.

This ocean community was testament to the tenacity of marine life. It is actually astonishing how much life we observe in places that are expected to be dangerous and dangerous, he states.

Over 40 sea stars had piled on to one accessible piece of TNT. They were living on steel casings, ignition chambers and transport cases just a short distance from its explosive filling. Fish, crabs, sea anemones and bivalves were all observed on the discarded explosives. You could compare it with a marine reef in terms of the quantity of creatures that was there, notes Vedenin.

Remarkable Population Density

An average of more than forty thousand animals were living on every square metre of the munitions, experts reported in their paper on the discovery. The nearby seabed was much poorer in life, with only 8,000 creatures on every meter squared.

It is ironic that things that are meant to kill everything are hosting so much marine organisms, says Vedenin. It's evident how nature adapts after a major disaster such as the second world war and how, in some way, life finds its way to the most dangerous locations.

Artificial Structures as Marine Habitats

Man-made features such as shipwrecks, offshore windfarms, drilling platforms and pipelines can create alternatives, restoring some of the destroyed marine environment. This investigation reveals that weapons could be similarly beneficial – the explosion of marine organisms on those in the Lübeck Bay is probable to be duplicated in different areas.

Between 1946 and 1948, 1.6m tonnes of munitions were dumped off the Germany's coast. Numerous of individuals transported them in boats; some were dropped in designated locations, others just dumped en route. This is the first time scientists have documented how marine life has responded.

Worldwide Instances of Marine Transformation

• In the United States, retired oil and gas structures have transformed into coral reefs
• Sunken ships from the World War I have become habitats for marine life along the Potomac River in Maryland
• Military vehicle parts that have become home to coral off Asan in the Pacific island

These areas become even more crucial for wildlife as the seas are increasingly depleted by fishing, bottom trawling and anchoring. Sunken ships and weapons dump sites practically serve as sanctuaries – they are not official reserves, but almost any kind of anthropogenic disturbance is restricted, states Vedenin. Therefore a lot of species that are typically uncommon or declining, such as the Baltic cod, are prospering.

Future Considerations

Wherever warfare has taken place in the last century, nearby oceans are typically strewn with weapons, states Vedenin. Millions of tonnes of volatile compounds lie in our marine environments.

The positions of these weapons are poorly mapped, partially because of national borders, restricted armed forces records and the reality that records are stored in historical records. They present an explosion and security hazard, as well as danger from the continuous release of poisonous compounds.

As Germany and other countries embark on extracting these relics, scientists hope to protect the marine communities that have developed nearby. In the Lübeck Bay explosives are currently being cleared.

It would be wise to substitute these steel remains left from munitions with some safer, various non-dangerous structures, like perhaps man-made habitats, states Vedenin.

He now hopes that what happens in Lübeck creates a example for replacing structures after munitions removal in other locations – because also the most destructive armaments can become framework for ocean ecosystems.