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

In the brackish sea off the Germany's coast sits a wasteland of World War II explosives, torpedo heads and naval mines. Dumped from boats at the conclusion of the second world war and left behind, thousands weapons have become matted together over the years. They create a rusting layer on the shallow, muddy ocean floor of the Bay of Lübeck in the western part of the Baltic Sea.

Over the decades, the explosive stockpile was overlooked and neglected. A growing number of visitors came to the sandy beaches and tranquil sea for water sports, kite surfing and amusement parks. Beneath the surface, the munitions deteriorated.

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

When the first scientists went searching to see what they were doing to the marine environment, some of us anticipated finding a barren area, with no life because it was all toxic, states the lead researcher.

What they found amazed them. Vedenin recounts his team members shouting with surprise when the underwater vehicle first transmitted footage. This was a remarkable experience, he says.

Countless of marine animals had made their homes amid the weapons, developing a renewed ecosystem richer than the ocean bottom around it.

This marine city was evidence to the tenacity of life. Indeed remarkable how much marine organisms we observe in locations that are considered hazardous and risky, he states.

More than 40 starfish had piled on to one visible fragment of TNT. They were residing on iron containers, fuse pockets and transport cases just a short distance from its explosive filling. Marine fish, crustaceans, anemones and mussels were all discovered on the historic weapons. It's similar to a coral reef in terms of the quantity of fauna that was present, states Vedenin.

Surprising Population Density

An average of more than forty thousand creatures were residing on every square metre of the weapons, scientists reported in their study on the finding. The nearby seabed was much poorer in life, with only 8,000 individuals on every square metre.

It is surprising that items that are meant to destroy all life are drawing so much marine organisms, states Vedenin. You can see how nature adjusts after a major disaster such as the second world war and how, in certain respects, life returns to the most dangerous locations.

Man-made Features as Marine Habitats

Man-made features such as shipwrecks, offshore windfarms, drilling platforms and undersea pipes can create substitutes, restoring some of the removed habitat. This investigation demonstrates that weapons could be similarly beneficial – the bloom of life on those in the Bay of Lübeck is expected to be repeated in other locations.

Between 1946 and 1948, 1.6 million tons of weapons were dumped off the German coast. Countless of workers transported them in boats; a portion were deposited in specific locations, others just thrown overboard during transport. This is the initial instance researchers have recorded how marine life has reacted.

Global Examples of Ocean Transformation

• In the US, retired energy installations have become marine habitats
• Shipwrecks from the World War I have become homes for wildlife along the Potomac River in the state of Maryland
• Military vehicle parts that have become environment to coral off Asan in Guam

These places become even more crucial for marine life as the marine environments are increasingly stripped by fishing, seafloor dredging and boat mooring. Sunken ships and explosive disposal locations essentially serve as refuges – they are not national parks, but nearly any kind of anthropogenic disturbance is restricted, explains Vedenin. Therefore a many of organisms that are otherwise scarce or decreasing, such as the Baltic cod, are thriving.

Future Considerations

Anywhere warfare has happened in the recent history, surrounding seas are usually containing explosives, explains Vedenin. Many millions of tonnes of volatile compounds lie in our marine environments.

The locations of these munitions are poorly mapped, partly because of sovereign limits, restricted armed forces records and the reality that records are hidden in historical records. They present an detonation and safety hazard, as well as threat from the continuous emission of toxic chemicals.

As the German government and other countries embark on extracting these remains, scientists plan to safeguard the marine communities that have developed nearby. In the Bay of Lübeck munitions are currently being cleared.

It would be wise to replace these metal carcasses left from weapons with some safer, some safe structures, like perhaps concrete structures, states Vedenin.

He presently hopes that what occurs in the Bay of Lübeck sets a example for replacing habitats after explosive extraction elsewhere – because including the most destructive explosives can become scaffolding for new life.