Nazi Explosives, Torpedoes and Naval Mines: The Way Ocean Creatures Flourishes on Dumped Weapons

In the slightly salty waters off the Germany's shoreline lies a wasteland of Nazi bombs, torpedoes and naval mines. Dumped from vessels at the conclusion of the second world war and neglected, numerous explosives have fused into clusters over the decades. They comprise a decaying carpet on the low-depth, muddy ocean floor of the Bay of Lübeck in the western part of the Baltic Sea.

Over the years, the explosive stockpile was ignored and neglected. A increasing amount of visitors traveled to the sandy beaches and calm waters for jetskiing, kite surfing and amusement parks. Underwater, the munitions deteriorated.

We initially expected to see a lifeless zone, with no organisms because it was all poisoned, says Andrey Vedenin.

When the team went investigating to see what they were affecting to the ecosystem, the team thought they would find a desert, with no life because it was all poisoned, states the lead researcher.

What they observed surprised them. Vedenin recalls his scientists reacting with shock when the ROV first sent the images back. That moment was a memorable occasion, he notes.

Countless of marine animals had settled amid the explosives, forming a revitalized marine community more populous than the ocean bottom around it.

This underwater metropolis was testament to the persistence of life. Indeed astonishing how much life we find in locations that are considered dangerous and harmful, he explains.

Over 40 starfish had clustered on to one visible chunk of explosive material. They were dwelling on metal shells, fuse pockets and storage boxes just a short distance from its explosive filling. Marine fish, crustaceans, anemones and bivalves were all found on the discarded explosives. You could compare it with a marine reef in terms of the abundance of animal life that was there, notes Vedenin.

Unexpected Population Density

An average of more than forty thousand animals were living on every square metre of the explosives, experts wrote in their study on the observation. The adjacent region was much poorer in life, with only eight thousand organisms on every square metre.

It is surprising that objects that are designed to eliminate all life are hosting so much marine organisms, explains Vedenin. You can see how the natural world adapts after a devastating occurrence such as the second world war and how, in some way, marine life returns to the most dangerous areas.

Artificial Structures as Ocean Habitats

Man-made structures such as shipwrecks, wind turbines, oil rigs and undersea pipes can offer replacements, compensating for some of the removed habitat. This research shows that munitions could be comparably positive – the proliferation of marine organisms on those in the Lübeck Bay is likely to be repeated in different areas.

Between 1946 and 1948, 1.6m tons of arms were disposed of off the German coast. Countless of workers loaded them in vessels; some were dropped in designated sites, others just dumped while traveling. This is the initial instance scientists have studied how marine life has reacted.

Global Examples of Marine Adaptation

• In the United States, decommissioned energy installations have turned into reef ecosystems
• Submerged vessels from the first world war have become habitats for wildlife along the Potomac in Maryland
• Tank tracks that have become habitat to reef-building organisms off Asan beach in the Pacific island

These places become even more valuable for organisms as the marine environments are increasingly stripped by commercial fishing, bottom trawling and boat mooring. Sunken ships and weapons dump sites essentially serve as refuges – they are not national parks, but nearly any kind of anthropogenic disturbance is restricted, explains Vedenin. As a result a numerous of organisms that are otherwise uncommon or decreasing, such as the Baltic cod, are flourishing.

Future Factors

Wherever military conflict has taken place in the past 100 years, adjacent waters are usually containing explosives, explains Vedenin. Many millions of tonnes of volatile compounds remain in our oceans.

The positions of these munitions are poorly recorded, partly because of sovereign limits, classified military information and the situation that archives are buried in old files. They present an detonation and security risk, as well as risk from the ongoing leakage of toxic chemicals.

As the German government and different states start extracting these relics, experts aim to protect the ecosystems that have formed in their vicinity. In the Lübeck Bay explosives are presently being removed.

Researchers recommend substitute these steel remains remaining from weapons with some more secure, some safe materials, like maybe man-made habitats, suggests Vedenin.

He currently wishes that what happens in Lübeck sets a example for substituting material after weapon clearance in other locations – because even the most destructive armaments can become framework for marine organisms.