Nazi Bombs, Torpedoes and Mines: The Way Marine Life Flourishes on Discarded Weapons

In the slightly salty waters off the German shoreline sits a wasteland of World War II explosives, torpedoes and mines. Discarded from vessels at the conclusion of the second world war and left behind, thousands explosives have become matted together over the years. They form a corroding blanket on the shallow, silty seafloor of the Bay of Lübeck in the western tip of the Baltic Sea.

Over the years, the explosive stockpile was overlooked and neglected. A growing number of tourists traveled to the sandy beaches and calm waters for water sports, kiteboarding and amusement parks. Underwater, the weapons decayed.

We initially expected to see a lifeless zone, with no life because it was all toxic, says a scientist.

When the initial researchers went searching to see what they were doing to the marine environment, researchers thought they would find a desert, with no life because it was all poisoned, explains the lead researcher.

What they found amazed them. Vedenin recounts his scientists reacting with shock when the submersible first transmitted footage. This was a memorable occasion, he recalls.

Numerous of marine animals had made their homes among the munitions, creating a renewed ecosystem more populous than the seabed nearby.

This ocean community was testament to the resilience of life. Indeed surprising how much life we discover in locations that are supposed to be hazardous and harmful, he states.

Over 40 starfish had gathered on to one exposed chunk of explosive material. They were residing on metal shells, detonator compartments and carrying containers just a short distance from its explosive filling. Marine fish, crabs, anemones and bivalves were all observed on the old munitions. It's similar to a marine reef in terms of the amount of animal life that was present, says Vedenin.

Surprising Creature Concentration

An mean of more than 40,000 creatures were dwelling on every square metre of the munitions, researchers reported in their research on the discovery. The surrounding area was much poorer in life, with only eight thousand organisms on every square metre.

It is paradoxical that objects that are designed to kill all life are drawing so much life, explains Vedenin. You can see how nature evolves after a catastrophic event such as the World War II and how, in certain respects, life establishes itself to the most dangerous areas.

Artificial Structures as Ocean Habitats

Man-made features such as shipwrecks, offshore windfarms, drilling platforms and undersea pipes can offer replacements, restoring some of the destroyed habitat. This investigation reveals that munitions could be similarly beneficial – the proliferation of life on those in the Lübeck Bay is expected to be found elsewhere.

Between the late 1940s and the post-war period, 1.6 million tons of weapons were discarded off the German coast. Thousands of workers placed them in barges; some were deposited in specific sites, others just discarded at sea during transport. This is the first time researchers have documented how ocean organisms has adapted.

Global Examples of Marine Transformation

• In the US, retired drilling platforms have transformed into reef ecosystems
• Shipwrecks from the first world war have become homes for wildlife along the Potomac River in the state of Maryland
• Military vehicle parts that have become habitat to reef-building organisms off Asan beach in the Pacific island

These places become even more important for wildlife as the marine environments are increasingly stripped by commercial fishing, bottom trawling and anchoring. Sunken ships and explosive disposal locations effectively act as protected areas – they are not national parks, but almost any kind of human activity is banned, says Vedenin. Therefore a lot of marine species that are usually uncommon or decreasing, such as the Baltic cod, are flourishing.

Future Issues

Wherever armed conflict has happened in the last century, adjacent waters are typically containing explosives, states Vedenin. Millions of tons of explosive material rest in our seas.

The positions of these explosives are inadequately recorded, partly because of sovereign limits, restricted military information and the situation that documents are hidden in historical records. They create an explosion and safety hazard, as well as threat from the persistent release of hazardous substances.

As Germany and different states embark on extracting these remains, researchers aim to safeguard the ecosystems that have developed in their vicinity. In the Bay of Lübeck weapons are currently being removed.

Researchers recommend replace these iron structures left from weapons with certain safer, some harmless objects, like possibly concrete structures, suggests Vedenin.

He presently aspires that what occurs in Lübeck creates a model for replacing habitats after munitions removal in different areas – because including the most harmful weaponry can become framework for ocean ecosystems.