Nazi Explosives, Torpedo Heads and Mines: How Ocean Creatures Thrives on Abandoned Armaments

In the brackish sea off the Germany's shoreline lies a wasteland of World War II explosives, torpedo heads and naval mines. Discarded from boats at the conclusion of the second world war and neglected, countless weapons have accumulated over the years. They comprise a rusting carpet on the shallow, silty ocean floor of the Bay of Lübeck in the western part of the Baltic Sea.

Over the decades, the wartime weapons was overlooked and neglected. A growing number of tourists flocked to the coastal areas and calm waters for jetskiing, kiteboarding and amusement parks. Underwater, the weapons decayed.

Some of us anticipated to see a desert, with nothing living there because it was all poisoned, says Andrey Vedenin.

When the initial researchers went investigating to see what they were affecting to the ecosystem, researchers anticipated finding a lifeless zone, with no organisms because it was all poisoned, says a scientist.

What they discovered surprised them. Vedenin recalls his team members shouting with surprise when the submersible first sent the images back. It was a remarkable experience, he recalls.

Thousands of sea creatures had settled among the munitions, forming a renewed marine community denser than the sea floor nearby.

This underwater metropolis was evidence to the persistence of life. It is actually surprising how much life we find in locations that are supposed to be hazardous and dangerous, he states.

In excess of 40 sea stars had gathered on to one visible piece of TNT. They were residing on metal shells, ignition chambers and storage boxes 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 marine reef in terms of the amount of fauna that was inhabiting the area, says Vedenin.

Remarkable Population Density

An average of more than forty thousand animals were residing on every meter squared of the munitions, researchers documented in their study on the discovery. The surrounding area was much less diverse, with only 8,000 individuals on every square metre.

It is paradoxical that objects that are designed to kill everything are drawing so much life, explains Vedenin. It's evident how nature adapts after a major disaster such as the second world war and how, in some way, life returns to the most hazardous areas.

Man-made Structures as Ocean Habitats

Artificial features such as sunken vessels, wind turbines, oil rigs and undersea pipes can create replacements, compensating for some of the removed habitat. This investigation demonstrates that explosives could be similarly positive – the proliferation of marine organisms on those in the Bay of Lübeck is likely to be repeated elsewhere.

Between 1946 and 1948, 1.6 million tonnes of munitions were dumped off the Germany's coast. Thousands of individuals transported them in boats; a portion were placed in allocated sites, the remainder just dumped during transport. This is the first time experts have documented how marine life has responded.

Worldwide Instances of Ocean Transformation

• In the US, retired oil and gas structures have transformed into marine habitats
• Shipwrecks from the first world war have become homes for marine life along the Potomac River in Maryland
• Tank tracks that have become habitat to coral off Asan in Guam

These places become even more important for marine life as the oceans are increasingly depleted by fishing, bottom trawling and anchoring. Sunken ships and weapons dump sites effectively serve as sanctuaries – they are not official reserves, but nearly any kind of anthropogenic disturbance is restricted, states Vedenin. Therefore a lot of organisms that are otherwise scarce or declining, such as the Baltic cod, are prospering.

Future Factors

Wherever military conflict has occurred in the recent history, nearby oceans are often littered with munitions, says Vedenin. Many millions of tons of volatile compounds rest in our oceans.

The locations of these explosives are inadequately documented, partially because of sovereign limits, restricted military information and the reality that archives are buried in historic archives. They present an detonation and safety risk, as well as threat from the persistent release of toxic chemicals.

As Germany and additional nations embark on extracting these remains, scientists aim to safeguard the marine communities that have developed in their vicinity. In the Lübeck Bay weapons are presently being extracted.

Researchers recommend substitute these metal carcasses remaining from munitions with certain safer, some harmless objects, like maybe man-made habitats, states Vedenin.

He now aspires that what transpires in Lübeck creates a example for replacing habitats after weapon clearance elsewhere – because even the most harmful armaments can become foundation for ocean ecosystems.