Nazi Explosives, Torpedo Heads and Mines: The Way Ocean Creatures Thrives on Discarded Weapons

In the slightly salty sea off the Germany's coast rests a collection of World War II explosives, torpedoes and mines. Discarded from vessels at the conclusion of the World War II and left behind, thousands weapons have fused into clusters over the decades. They form a decaying blanket on the shallow, silty ocean floor of the Lübeck Bay in the western part of the Baltic Sea.

Over the years, the wartime weapons was ignored and forgotten about. A growing number of tourists traveled to the sandy beaches and tranquil sea for water sports, kiteboarding and entertainment venues. Below the waves, the weapons decayed.

We initially anticipated to see a desert, with no organisms because it was all toxic, says the lead researcher.

When the first scientists went searching to see what they were doing to the ecosystem, the team thought they would find a desert, with no organisms because it was all toxic, states Andrey Vedenin.

What they discovered astonished them. Vedenin recalls his scientists exclaiming in amazement when the submersible first transmitted footage. It was a memorable occasion, he recalls.

Thousands of ocean life had established habitats on the munitions, developing a regenerated ecosystem richer than the ocean bottom around it.

This ocean community was proof to the tenacity of marine life. Indeed remarkable how much life we observe in locations that are considered dangerous and dangerous, he states.

In excess of 40 starfish had piled on to one exposed fragment of explosive material. They were residing on steel casings, ignition chambers and storage boxes just a short distance from its dangerous content. Marine fish, crabs, sea anemones and mussels were all discovered on the historic weapons. It resembles a marine reef in terms of the quantity of animal life that was present, notes Vedenin.

Remarkable Creature Concentration

An mean of more than forty thousand animals were living on every meter squared of the weapons, experts documented in their study on the discovery. The nearby seabed was much poorer in life, with only eight thousand individuals on every square metre.

It is paradoxical that things that are designed to destroy everything are drawing so much life, states Vedenin. It's evident how the natural world adjusts after a devastating occurrence such as the second world war and how, in certain respects, marine life finds its way to the most risky areas.

Man-made Features as Ocean Habitats

Man-made constructions such as shipwrecks, offshore windfarms, oil rigs and undersea pipes can provide replacements, compensating for some of the lost marine environment. This investigation shows that munitions could be comparably positive – the explosion of life on those in the Bay of Lübeck is expected to be repeated in other locations.

Between 1946 and 1948, 1.6m tons of weapons were discarded off the German shoreline. Numerous of workers loaded them in barges; a portion were dropped in allocated sites, the remainder just dumped during transport. This is the first time scientists have recorded how ocean organisms has reacted.

Global Examples of Ocean Transformation

• In the US, decommissioned energy installations have transformed into reef ecosystems
• Sunken ships from the first world war have become homes for creatures along the Potomac in Maryland
• Tank tracks that have become home to coral off Asan in Guam

These locations become even more valuable for wildlife as the marine environments are increasingly denuded by fishing, seafloor dredging and anchoring. Sunken ships and explosive disposal locations practically serve as protected areas – they are not official reserves, but almost any kind of anthropogenic disturbance is banned, states Vedenin. As a result a lot of organisms that are otherwise uncommon or declining, such as the cod fish, are prospering.

Future Factors

Anywhere warfare has occurred in the past 100 years, surrounding seas are usually containing explosives, says Vedenin. Millions of tons of dangerous substances remain in our seas.

The sites of these weapons are inadequately mapped, in part because of international boundaries, secret defense data and the fact that records are hidden in historical records. They pose an explosion and security danger, as well as risk from the persistent leakage of poisonous compounds.

As the German government and different states start removing these relics, researchers hope to safeguard the ecosystems that have formed around them. In the Lübeck Bay explosives are currently being removed.

It would be wise to substitute these metal carcasses originating from weapons with some safer, various non-dangerous objects, like perhaps man-made habitats, states Vedenin.

He presently hopes that what occurs in the Bay of Lübeck sets a precedent for replacing habitats after weapon clearance in different areas – because also the most damaging weaponry can become framework for marine organisms.