Nazi Explosives, Torpedo Heads and Naval Mines: The Way Marine Life Thrives on Discarded Weapons

In the brackish sea off the German coast rests a collection of World War II explosives, torpedoes and naval mines. Thrown off vessels at the conclusion of the World War II and neglected, countless munitions have accumulated over the years. They form a rusting blanket on the shallow, muddy ocean floor of the Bay of Lübeck in the western part of the Baltic.

Over the decades, the Nazi arsenal was overlooked and neglected. A growing number of visitors came to the sandy beaches and calm waters for jetskiing, kiteboarding and entertainment venues. Underwater, the munitions eroded.

Researchers anticipated to see a barren area, with no life because it was all toxic, states a scientist.

When the initial researchers went searching to see what they were affecting to the ecosystem, some of us thought they would find a lifeless zone, with no life because it was all contaminated, says the lead researcher.

What they discovered astonished them. Vedenin recounts his colleagues shouting with surprise when the ROV first transmitted footage. It was a remarkable experience, he says.

Numerous of ocean life had made their homes amid the weapons, developing a revitalized habitat richer than the seabed nearby.

This underwater metropolis was testament to the persistence of marine life. It is actually remarkable how much life we find in places that are supposed to be hazardous and risky, he says.

Over 40 starfish had piled on to one accessible piece of explosive material. They were living on steel casings, detonator compartments and storage boxes just centimetres from its volatile core. Fish, crabs, sea anemones and mussels were all found on the historic weapons. You could compare it with a coral reef in terms of the abundance of animal life that was there, notes Vedenin.

Unexpected Population Density

An mean of more than 40,000 organisms were residing on every square metre of the explosives, researchers wrote in their study on the discovery. The nearby seabed was much less diverse, with only 8,000 organisms on every square metre.

It is surprising that items that are meant to eliminate everything are attracting so much life, states Vedenin. It's evident how nature adjusts after a major disaster such as the World War II and how, in certain respects, marine life establishes itself to the most risky areas.

Artificial Features as Ocean Habitats

Man-made structures such as sunken vessels, offshore windfarms, oil rigs and pipelines can offer alternatives, replacing some of the lost marine environment. This study shows that weapons could be comparably beneficial – the proliferation of life on those in the Lübeck Bay is likely to be repeated in different areas.

Between the late 1940s and the post-war period, 1.6 million tons of munitions were disposed of off the German coast. Countless of workers placed them in boats; some were deposited in specific areas, others just thrown overboard en route. This is the initial instance scientists have studied how ocean organisms has adapted.

Global Instances of Marine Transformation

• In the US, decommissioned energy installations have transformed into reef ecosystems
• Shipwrecks from the World War I have become habitats for marine life along the Potomac in Maryland
• Military vehicle parts that have become home to reef-building organisms off Asan beach in the Pacific island

These locations become even more important for marine life as the seas are increasingly denuded by commercial fishing, bottom trawling and boat mooring. Sunken ships and munitions areas effectively function as protected areas – they are not national parks, but almost any kind of anthropogenic disturbance is prohibited, says Vedenin. As a result a numerous of species that are typically scarce or diminishing, such as the Baltic cod, are prospering.

Coming Factors

Wherever military conflict has happened in the recent history, nearby oceans are usually littered with explosives, explains Vedenin. Many millions of tonnes of dangerous substances rest in our oceans.

The sites of these munitions are insufficiently mapped, partially because of sovereign limits, classified military information and the situation that records are buried in old files. They present an detonation and security risk, as well as threat from the ongoing release of hazardous substances.

As the German government and additional nations begin removing these remains, scientists aim to safeguard the habitats that have formed nearby. In the Lübeck Bay weapons are already being cleared.

It would be wise to substitute these iron structures remaining from munitions with some safer, some harmless objects, like perhaps artificial reefs, says Vedenin.

He now wishes that what occurs in Lübeck establishes a example for substituting habitats after weapon clearance in other locations – because also the most damaging explosives can become framework for marine organisms.