Nazi Bombs, Torpedo Heads and Naval Mines: The Way Marine Life Flourishes on Abandoned Weapons

In the brackish sea off the German coast sits a wasteland of World War II explosives, torpedo heads and naval mines. Dumped from vessels at the end of the World War II and forgotten about, numerous explosives have become matted together over the years. They create a corroding blanket on the low-depth, muddy ocean floor of the Lübeck Bay in the western part of the Baltic Sea.

Over the decades, the Nazi arsenal was ignored and neglected. A increasing amount of tourists came to the coastal areas and calm waters for water sports, kiteboarding and amusement parks. Beneath the surface, the weapons eroded.

Researchers expected to see a barren area, with no organisms because it was all toxic, says a scientist.

When the first scientists went investigating to see what they were doing to the ecosystem, researchers anticipated finding a desert, with nothing living there because it was all toxic, explains Andrey Vedenin.

What they found surprised them. Vedenin recalls his colleagues exclaiming in amazement when the submersible first transmitted footage. This was a great moment, he recalls.

Thousands of ocean life had made their homes among the weapons, developing a revitalized marine community denser than the ocean bottom surrounding it.

This ocean community was evidence to the persistence of life. Indeed surprising how much marine organisms we observe in locations that are supposed to be dangerous and risky, he explains.

Over 40 starfish had gathered on to one visible fragment of explosive material. They were living on steel casings, detonator compartments and transport cases just a short distance from its volatile core. Marine fish, crustaceans, anemones and mussels were all found on the historic weapons. You could compare it with a coral reef in terms of the quantity of animal life that was inhabiting the area, notes Vedenin.

Surprising Creature Concentration

An mean of more than forty thousand animals were residing on every meter squared of the explosives, researchers reported in their research on the finding. The adjacent region was much less diverse, with only eight thousand organisms on every meter squared.

It is surprising that things that are intended to destroy everything are hosting so much marine organisms, states Vedenin. It's evident how nature evolves after a major disaster such as the second world war and how, in some way, life establishes itself to the most hazardous areas.

Man-made Features as Ocean Environments

Artificial features such as sunken vessels, offshore windfarms, oil rigs and pipelines can provide replacements, compensating for some of the lost marine environment. This research reveals that weapons could be similarly beneficial – the bloom of life on those in the Bay of Lübeck is expected to be found in different areas.

Between the late 1940s and 1948, 1.6m tonnes of weapons were discarded off the Germany's shoreline. Thousands of individuals transported them in barges; a portion were placed in designated areas, the remainder just dumped en route. This is the first time researchers have documented how ocean organisms has reacted.

Worldwide Examples of Ocean Adaptation

• In the United States, decommissioned drilling platforms have turned into reef ecosystems
• Sunken ships from the first world war have become environments for marine life along the Potomac in the state of Maryland
• Military vehicle parts that have become environment to coral off Asan beach in the Pacific island

These areas become even more valuable for wildlife as the seas are increasingly denuded by commercial fishing, seafloor dredging and boat mooring. Shipwrecks and weapons dump sites essentially serve as protected areas – they are not official reserves, but nearly any kind of anthropogenic disturbance is restricted, says Vedenin. Therefore a numerous of organisms that are usually uncommon or decreasing, such as the cod fish, are thriving.

Coming Considerations

Anywhere military conflict has occurred in the recent history, adjacent waters are usually littered with weapons, states Vedenin. Millions of tonnes of explosive material remain in our oceans.

The positions of these weapons are insufficiently documented, in part because of international boundaries, classified armed forces records and the reality that archives are stored in historic archives. They present an explosion and safety danger, as well as risk from the continuous leakage of hazardous substances.

As the German government and other countries embark on removing these remains, experts aim to protect the ecosystems that have developed nearby. In the Lübeck Bay weapons are already being cleared.

We should substitute these metal carcasses remaining from munitions with some safer, various harmless materials, like maybe man-made habitats, says Vedenin.

He presently wishes that what happens in Lübeck establishes a model for replacing structures after weapon clearance in different areas – because including the most destructive weaponry can become foundation for new life.