Nazi Bombs, Torpedoes and Mines: How Marine Life Prosper on Abandoned Weapons

In the slightly salty sea off the Germany's coast sits a wasteland of World War II explosives, torpedo heads and mines. Dumped from barges at the end of the second world war and forgotten about, thousands explosives have accumulated over the years. They comprise a decaying layer on the low-depth, muddy seafloor of the Bay of Lübeck in the western part of the Baltic Sea.

Over the decades, the explosive stockpile was overlooked and forgotten about. A growing number of visitors flocked to the coastal areas and calm waters for jetskiing, kite surfing and entertainment venues. Underwater, the weapons decayed.

We initially thought to see a barren area, with nothing living there because it was all toxic, says the lead researcher.

When the team went looking to see what they were affecting to the marine environment, researchers thought they would find a desert, with no organisms because it was all contaminated, explains the lead researcher.

What they observed amazed them. Vedenin remembers his scientists reacting with shock when the ROV first transmitted footage. It was a memorable occasion, he says.

Thousands of ocean life had settled amid the munitions, forming a revitalized habitat more populous than the sea floor nearby.

This ocean community was testament to the resilience of life. Truly astonishing how much marine organisms we discover in locations that are supposed to be toxic and risky, he explains.

More than 40 starfish had gathered on to one accessible fragment of TNT. They were residing on steel casings, fuse pockets and transport cases just a short distance from its explosive filling. Fish, crustaceans, anemones and mussels were all observed on the old munitions. You could compare it with a marine reef in terms of the amount of animal life that was present, says Vedenin.

Remarkable Creature Concentration

An mean of more than forty thousand creatures were residing on every meter squared of the munitions, scientists wrote in their research on the discovery. The surrounding area was much poorer in life, with only eight thousand individuals on every square metre.

It is ironic that items that are designed to kill all life are drawing so much marine organisms, explains Vedenin. One can observe how nature adjusts after a catastrophic event such as the second world war and how, in certain respects, marine life returns to the most risky locations.

Artificial Structures as Marine Habitats

Man-made constructions such as sunken vessels, wind turbines, drilling platforms and undersea pipes can create alternatives, replacing some of the lost marine environment. This investigation shows that munitions could be similarly advantageous – the bloom of marine organisms on those in the Lübeck Bay is probable to be found elsewhere.

Between the late 1940s and 1948, 1.6 million tonnes of munitions were disposed of off the Germany's shoreline. Countless of individuals placed them in vessels; a portion were deposited in designated sites, the remainder just discarded at sea en route. This is the first time scientists have studied how ocean organisms has reacted.

Global Instances of Ocean Adaptation

• In the US, retired oil and gas structures have become marine habitats
• Submerged vessels from the first world war have become homes for wildlife along the Potomac River in Maryland
• Tank tracks that have become environment to coral off Asan beach in the Pacific island

These places become even more important for marine life as the marine environments are increasingly stripped by commercial fishing, bottom trawling and anchoring. Shipwrecks and explosive disposal locations effectively function as protected areas – they are not national parks, but virtually any kind of human activity is prohibited, says Vedenin. As a result a lot of organisms that are usually rare or diminishing, such as the cod fish, are flourishing.

Future Factors

Anywhere armed conflict has taken place in the recent history, surrounding seas are usually containing munitions, explains Vedenin. Millions of tons of dangerous substances rest in our marine environments.

The locations of these weapons are poorly documented, partially because of international boundaries, secret defense data and the situation that records are buried in old files. They present an detonation and security danger, as well as risk from the ongoing release of poisonous compounds.

As the German government and different states embark on extracting these relics, researchers plan to preserve the habitats that have established nearby. In the Lübeck Bay weapons are presently being extracted.

Researchers recommend replace these steel remains left from munitions with some more secure, various safe structures, like possibly concrete structures, states Vedenin.

He presently wishes that what transpires in Lübeck creates a example for substituting habitats after munitions removal in different areas – because including the most damaging armaments can become scaffolding for new life.