Nazi Bombs, Torpedo Heads and Naval Mines: How Marine Life Thrives on Abandoned Weapons

In the brackish sea off the German shoreline lies a collection of World War II explosives, torpedo heads and mines. Dumped from barges at the end of the second world war and neglected, countless weapons have accumulated over the years. They form a corroding carpet on the low-depth, silty seafloor of the Bay of Lübeck in the western tip of the Baltic Sea.

Over the decades, the Nazi arsenal was ignored and forgotten about. A increasing amount of visitors traveled to the coastal areas and calm waters for water sports, kite surfing and amusement parks. Below the waves, the weapons deteriorated.

Some of us expected to see a barren area, with nothing living there because it was all contaminated, explains a scientist.

When the team went searching to see what they were affecting to the marine environment, some of us anticipated finding a barren area, with no life because it was all contaminated, explains the lead researcher.

What they found amazed them. Vedenin recalls his colleagues exclaiming in amazement when the ROV first relayed pictures. That moment was a remarkable experience, he recalls.

Thousands of marine animals had made their homes on the weapons, creating a regenerated ecosystem richer than the seabed around it.

This underwater metropolis was testament to the persistence of marine life. Indeed remarkable how much life we find in locations that are supposed to be dangerous and dangerous, he explains.

Over 40 sea stars had gathered on to one accessible fragment of explosive material. They were dwelling on iron containers, detonator compartments and storage boxes just a short distance from its explosive filling. Marine fish, crabs, anemones and bivalves were all observed on the discarded explosives. It's similar to a coral reef in terms of the quantity of fauna that was present, states Vedenin.

Remarkable Population Density

An average of more than forty thousand organisms were dwelling on every square metre of the explosives, scientists wrote in their paper on the observation. The adjacent region was much sparser, with only 8,000 individuals on every meter squared.

It is paradoxical that items that are intended to destroy everything are drawing so much life, explains Vedenin. It's evident how the natural world adapts after a major disaster such as the second world war and how, in some way, marine life returns to the most risky places.

Man-made Structures as Ocean Environments

Man-made constructions such as sunken vessels, wind turbines, drilling platforms and pipelines can offer substitutes, compensating for some of the destroyed marine environment. This investigation demonstrates that explosives could be similarly beneficial – the bloom of marine organisms on those in the Lübeck Bay is probable to be found in other locations.

Between the late 1940s and 1948, 1.6 million tons of munitions were dumped off the Germany's shoreline. Numerous of people loaded them in vessels; a portion were dropped in allocated sites, the remainder just dumped en route. This is the first time scientists have recorded how marine life has responded.

Worldwide Instances of Marine Adaptation

• In the United States, retired oil and gas structures have turned into coral reefs
• Shipwrecks from the World War I have become homes for wildlife along the Potomac River in the state of Maryland
• Tank tracks that have become habitat to coral off Asan in the Pacific island

These places become even more valuable for organisms as the oceans are increasingly depleted by commercial fishing, bottom trawling and anchoring. Shipwrecks and munitions areas practically act as sanctuaries – they are not national parks, but virtually any kind of human activity is banned, explains Vedenin. As a result a numerous of species that are otherwise scarce or declining, such as the cod fish, are flourishing.

Coming Considerations

Anywhere military conflict has taken place in the last century, surrounding seas are usually littered with weapons, says Vedenin. Millions of tonnes of volatile compounds remain in our marine environments.

The positions of these explosives are insufficiently documented, partially because of international boundaries, secret armed forces records and the fact that documents are buried in old files. They present an explosion and security hazard, as well as threat from the ongoing release of poisonous compounds.

As the German government and additional nations embark on removing these artifacts, researchers plan to preserve the habitats that have formed in their vicinity. In the Lübeck Bay weapons are presently being extracted.

We should substitute these steel remains originating from weapons with some less dangerous, various harmless structures, like perhaps man-made habitats, states Vedenin.

He now wishes that what happens in the Bay of Lübeck establishes a example for substituting habitats after munitions removal in other locations – because also the most destructive explosives can become framework for new life.