Nazi Explosives, Torpedo Heads and Mines: How Ocean Creatures Prosper on Discarded Armaments

In the brackish sea off the Germany's coast rests a graveyard of World War II explosives, torpedoes and naval mines. Thrown off boats at the end of the second world war and left behind, numerous munitions have become matted together over the years. They form a rusting layer on the low-depth, silty ocean floor of the Lübeck Bay in the western tip of the Baltic Sea.

Over the decades, the Nazi arsenal was overlooked and forgotten about. A increasing amount of visitors came to the sandy beaches and calm waters for jetskiing, kiteboarding and amusement parks. Beneath the surface, the weapons decayed.

We initially anticipated to see a barren area, with no life because it was all contaminated, says a scientist.

When the initial researchers went searching to see what they were affecting to the marine environment, some of us anticipated finding a barren area, with no organisms because it was all poisoned, explains the lead researcher.

What they observed amazed them. Vedenin recalls his colleagues exclaiming in amazement when the ROV first transmitted footage. This was a great moment, he notes.

Numerous of marine animals had settled amid the weapons, creating a renewed habitat richer than the seabed nearby.

This underwater metropolis was evidence to the resilience of life. Indeed remarkable how much marine organisms we observe in areas that are expected to be hazardous and harmful, he explains.

More than 40 sea stars had clustered on to one accessible piece of TNT. They were living on iron containers, detonator compartments and carrying containers just a short distance from its explosive filling. Fish, crabs, anemones and bivalves were all found on the discarded explosives. It resembles a reef ecosystem in terms of the quantity of creatures that was inhabiting the area, says Vedenin.

Surprising Creature Concentration

An average of more than 40,000 animals were dwelling on every square metre of the weapons, experts wrote in their paper on the discovery. The surrounding area was much sparser, with only eight thousand creatures on every square metre.

It is ironic that objects that are meant to kill everything are hosting so much marine organisms, explains Vedenin. You can see how nature adapts after a devastating occurrence such as the World War II and how, in certain respects, marine life returns to the most hazardous locations.

Man-made Structures as Marine Environments

Artificial features such as shipwrecks, wind turbines, oil rigs and pipelines can offer replacements, restoring some of the lost habitat. This study reveals that munitions could be similarly beneficial – the bloom of life on those in the Lübeck Bay is probable to be repeated elsewhere.

Between 1946 and 1948, 1.6 million tonnes of munitions were discarded off the Germany's coast. Thousands of individuals transported them in vessels; a portion were dropped in specific sites, others just discarded at sea while traveling. This is the first time scientists have recorded how marine life has responded.

Global Instances of Ocean Transformation

• In the US, decommissioned oil and gas structures have transformed into coral reefs
• Submerged vessels from the World War I have become environments for marine life along the Potomac in Maryland
• Military vehicle parts that have become habitat to reef-building organisms off Asan beach in Guam

These places become even more crucial for marine life as the marine environments are increasingly denuded by commercial fishing, seafloor dredging and anchoring. Sunken ships and munitions areas practically act as protected areas – they are not official reserves, but almost any kind of human activity is banned, explains Vedenin. Therefore a many of marine species that are usually uncommon or diminishing, such as the cod fish, are prospering.

Future Factors

Wherever armed conflict has occurred in the past 100 years, nearby oceans are usually containing weapons, states Vedenin. Many millions of tons of dangerous substances rest in our seas.

The positions of these munitions are inadequately mapped, in part because of international boundaries, classified military information and the reality that records are hidden in historical records. They pose an detonation and security hazard, as well as threat from the continuous emission of toxic chemicals.

As Germany and different states start removing these relics, experts hope to preserve the ecosystems that have established nearby. In the Bay of Lübeck weapons are currently being removed.

Researchers recommend replace these steel remains originating from munitions with certain safer, various safe objects, like possibly man-made habitats, suggests Vedenin.

He presently aspires that what transpires in the Bay of Lübeck creates a model for substituting habitats after weapon clearance in other locations – because including the most damaging weaponry can become foundation for marine organisms.