Nazi Bombs, Torpedo Heads and Mines: The Way Marine Life Prosper on Discarded Weapons

In the slightly salty sea off the Germany's coast rests a wasteland of Nazi bombs, torpedo heads and naval mines. Thrown off barges at the end of the World War II and forgotten about, numerous explosives have accumulated over the years. They create a decaying layer on the low-depth, silty seafloor of the Bay of Lübeck in the western part of the Baltic.

Over the decades, the explosive stockpile was ignored and forgotten about. A growing number of visitors came to the coastal areas and tranquil sea for water sports, kiteboarding and amusement parks. Below the waves, the weapons decayed.

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

When the team went investigating to see what they were doing to the ecosystem, the team thought they would find a barren area, with no life because it was all toxic, explains the lead researcher.

What they found astonished them. Vedenin recalls his team members exclaiming in amazement when the ROV first sent the images back. It was a remarkable experience, he recalls.

Thousands of sea creatures had made their homes amid the explosives, forming a renewed habitat denser than the ocean bottom around it.

This marine city was proof to the persistence of life. Indeed surprising how much marine organisms we find in places that are expected to be dangerous and harmful, he states.

More than 40 starfish had piled on to one exposed fragment of TNT. They were living on iron containers, detonator compartments and storage boxes just a short distance from its volatile core. Fish, crabs, anemones and bivalves were all found on the discarded explosives. It's similar to a reef ecosystem in terms of the amount of fauna that was present, notes Vedenin.

Remarkable Creature Concentration

An mean of more than 40,000 creatures were living on every meter squared of the explosives, experts documented in their study on the discovery. The surrounding area was much sparser, with only 8,000 individuals on every meter squared.

It is ironic that things that are designed to kill everything are attracting so much marine organisms, says 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 risky places.

Man-made Features as Ocean Environments

Man-made structures such as shipwrecks, wind turbines, oil rigs and pipelines can offer replacements, replacing some of the lost marine environment. This investigation demonstrates that weapons could be similarly advantageous – the bloom of marine organisms on those in the Bay of Lübeck is expected to be repeated in different areas.

Between 1946 and 1948, 1.6 million tons of arms were dumped off the Germany's coast. Countless of people placed them in vessels; a portion were placed in specific locations, the remainder just dumped while traveling. This is the initial instance researchers have documented how ocean organisms has responded.

Global Instances of Ocean Transformation

• In the United States, decommissioned energy installations have become marine habitats
• Submerged vessels from the World War I have become habitats for creatures along the Potomac River in Maryland
• Military vehicle parts that have become home to reef-building organisms off Asan beach in Guam

These places become even more crucial for marine life as the oceans are increasingly depleted by fishing, seafloor dredging and boat mooring. Sunken ships and munitions areas practically function as protected areas – they are not official reserves, but almost any kind of anthropogenic disturbance is restricted, explains Vedenin. Consequently a lot of marine species that are typically scarce or declining, such as the Baltic cod, are thriving.

Coming Considerations

Wherever warfare has taken place in the recent history, adjacent waters are often containing munitions, states Vedenin. Many millions of tons of explosive material rest in our oceans.

The locations of these munitions are poorly recorded, partly because of sovereign limits, restricted defense data and the situation that records are buried in historical records. They pose an detonation and security danger, as well as risk from the persistent emission of toxic chemicals.

As Germany and different states start removing these artifacts, researchers aim to protect the habitats that have developed nearby. In the Bay of Lübeck explosives are currently being extracted.

Researchers recommend replace these steel remains remaining from weapons with some less dangerous, various non-dangerous objects, like maybe artificial reefs, states Vedenin.

He currently hopes that what transpires in Lübeck sets a example for substituting material after explosive extraction in different areas – because also the most destructive weaponry can become scaffolding for ocean ecosystems.