Nazi Bombs, Torpedo Heads and Mines: The Way Ocean Creatures Prosper on Discarded Weapons

In the slightly salty sea off the Germany's shoreline lies a wasteland of World War II explosives, torpedoes and naval mines. Thrown off vessels at the end of the World War II and neglected, numerous weapons have become matted together over the years. They form a corroding layer on the low-depth, muddy ocean floor of the Lübeck Bay in the western tip of the Baltic Sea.

Over the years, the Nazi arsenal was ignored and neglected. A growing number of tourists traveled to the sandy beaches and calm waters for jetskiing, kiteboarding and entertainment venues. Underwater, the munitions deteriorated.

Some of us expected to see a barren area, with nothing living there because it was all contaminated, states the lead researcher.

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

What they discovered astonished them. Vedenin recounts his scientists reacting with shock when the underwater vehicle first sent the images back. It was a great moment, he notes.

Numerous of marine animals had made their homes amid the explosives, forming a revitalized habitat denser than the ocean bottom surrounding it.

This ocean community was testament to the tenacity of marine life. It is actually surprising how much marine organisms we discover in areas that are expected to be dangerous and risky, he says.

In excess of 40 starfish had piled on to one exposed piece of explosive material. They were living on iron containers, fuse pockets and storage boxes just a short distance from its dangerous content. Fish, crabs, anemones and bivalves were all observed on the discarded explosives. You could compare it with a reef ecosystem in terms of the abundance of fauna that was inhabiting the area, notes Vedenin.

Unexpected Creature Concentration

An average of more than 40,000 animals were dwelling on every meter squared of the explosives, experts reported in their study on the finding. The surrounding area was much poorer in life, with only 8,000 organisms on every square metre.

It is ironic that items that are intended to destroy everything are hosting so much marine organisms, says Vedenin. You can see how nature evolves after a major disaster such as the second world war and how, in some way, marine life establishes itself to the most hazardous locations.

Artificial Features as Marine Habitats

Man-made structures such as sunken vessels, wind turbines, drilling platforms and undersea pipes can create alternatives, restoring some of the destroyed marine environment. This study reveals that explosives could be equally advantageous – the proliferation of marine organisms on those in the Bay of Lübeck is probable to be found in other locations.

Between the late 1940s and 1948, 1.6m tons of arms were dumped off the German shoreline. Numerous of people transported them in vessels; a portion were placed in specific areas, the remainder just dumped while traveling. This is the initial instance scientists have recorded how marine life has responded.

Global Examples of Ocean Transformation

• In the United States, retired drilling platforms have become reef ecosystems
• Submerged vessels from the World War I have become environments for marine life along the Potomac River in Maryland
• Tank tracks that have become environment to coral off Asan in Guam

These areas become even more important for marine life as the oceans are increasingly stripped by fishing, bottom trawling and anchoring. Shipwrecks and munitions areas essentially function as sanctuaries – they are not official reserves, but virtually any kind of anthropogenic disturbance is banned, says Vedenin. Consequently a numerous of species that are usually rare or declining, such as the cod fish, are thriving.

Future Factors

Anywhere military conflict has happened in the past 100 years, surrounding seas are usually littered with weapons, states Vedenin. Many millions of tons of dangerous substances remain in our seas.

The positions of these explosives are poorly documented, in part because of sovereign limits, classified armed forces records and the reality that archives are stored in historic archives. They create an explosion and safety risk, as well as threat from the persistent emission of hazardous substances.

As the German government and other countries start removing these remains, researchers aim to safeguard the marine communities that have developed around them. In the Bay of Lübeck weapons are already being removed.

Researchers recommend substitute these metal carcasses originating from weapons with certain safer, some safe structures, like possibly concrete structures, suggests Vedenin.

He presently aspires that what occurs in the Bay of Lübeck creates a example for replacing habitats after weapon clearance elsewhere – because also the most destructive explosives can become framework for ocean ecosystems.