Nazi Explosives, Torpedo Heads and Naval Mines: The Way Ocean Creatures Prosper on Discarded Armaments

In the slightly salty waters off the Germany's coast rests a collection of Nazi bombs, torpedo heads and naval mines. Discarded from barges at the end of the second world war and left behind, numerous weapons have become matted together over the years. They comprise a decaying blanket on the shallow, muddy ocean floor of the Lübeck Bay in the western tip of the Baltic.

Over the years, the Nazi arsenal was ignored and neglected. A growing number of visitors came to the sandy beaches and calm waters for water sports, kiteboarding and entertainment venues. Beneath the surface, the munitions decayed.

Researchers thought to see a lifeless zone, with no organisms because it was all contaminated, says Andrey Vedenin.

When the first scientists went searching to see what they were affecting to the ecosystem, researchers thought they would find a desert, with no life because it was all poisoned, explains Andrey Vedenin.

What they found surprised them. Vedenin recounts his scientists exclaiming in amazement when the submersible first relayed pictures. That moment was a remarkable experience, he recalls.

Thousands of marine animals had made their homes on the munitions, developing a revitalized habitat richer than the sea floor nearby.

This ocean community was proof to the persistence of marine life. It is actually astonishing how much marine organisms we find in places that are supposed to be toxic and risky, he states.

In excess of 40 starfish had clustered on to one accessible chunk of explosive material. They were living on metal shells, ignition chambers and carrying containers just centimetres from its volatile core. Fish, crustaceans, sea anemones and mussels were all found on the old munitions. You could compare it with a coral reef in terms of the amount of fauna that was present, states Vedenin.

Surprising Creature Concentration

An mean of more than forty thousand organisms were dwelling on every square metre of the explosives, experts reported in their paper on the discovery. The adjacent region was much poorer in life, with only 8,000 organisms on every square metre.

It is surprising that things that are intended to kill all life are drawing so much marine organisms, explains Vedenin. It's evident how the natural world adjusts after a catastrophic event such as the World War II and how, in some way, marine life finds its way to the most risky areas.

Man-made Structures as Ocean Habitats

Artificial features such as sunken vessels, wind turbines, drilling platforms and pipelines can provide replacements, compensating for some of the destroyed marine environment. This research demonstrates that explosives could be similarly advantageous – the explosion of marine organisms on those in the Bay of Lübeck is probable to be repeated in other locations.

Between the late 1940s and 1948, 1.6m tonnes of weapons were dumped off the Germany's shoreline. Numerous of people loaded them in barges; some were deposited in specific sites, the remainder just dumped en route. This is the first time researchers have studied how ocean organisms has responded.

Worldwide Examples of Ocean Adaptation

• In the United States, retired energy installations have become marine habitats
• Sunken ships from the World War I have become homes for marine life along the Potomac in Maryland
• Tank tracks that have become habitat to coral off Asan in Guam

These locations become even more crucial for wildlife as the oceans are increasingly denuded by fishing, bottom trawling and anchoring. Sunken ships and munitions areas practically act as refuges – they are not national parks, but almost any kind of human activity is banned, explains Vedenin. As a result a lot of marine species that are otherwise scarce or diminishing, such as the cod fish, are prospering.

Coming Factors

Anywhere armed conflict has taken place in the last century, adjacent waters are typically strewn with munitions, states Vedenin. Many millions of tons of explosive material rest in our marine environments.

The sites of these munitions are poorly mapped, partially because of international boundaries, restricted armed forces records and the situation that records are stored in historical records. They pose an explosion and safety danger, as well as risk from the persistent release of hazardous substances.

As Germany and additional nations begin clearing these remains, researchers hope to protect the marine communities that have established around them. In the Bay of Lübeck weapons are presently being removed.

It would be wise to substitute these metal carcasses originating from munitions with some safer, some harmless objects, like maybe man-made habitats, states Vedenin.

He presently aspires that what transpires in the Bay of Lübeck sets a example for replacing structures after explosive extraction in different areas – because also the most damaging explosives can become scaffolding for marine organisms.