Nazi Munitions, Torpedoes and Mines: How Ocean Creatures Flourishes on Discarded Weapons

In the brackish waters off the Germany's shoreline rests a graveyard of World War II explosives, torpedoes and mines. Thrown off barges at the conclusion of the World War II and neglected, numerous weapons have fused into clusters over the decades. They comprise a rusting carpet on the low-depth, silty ocean floor of the Bay of Lübeck in the western tip of the Baltic.

Over the decades, the wartime weapons was overlooked and forgotten about. A growing number of visitors came to the coastal areas and tranquil sea for jetskiing, kite surfing and entertainment venues. Beneath the surface, the weapons decayed.

We initially expected to see a lifeless zone, with no life because it was all toxic, explains Andrey Vedenin.

When the initial researchers went searching to see what they were affecting to the ecosystem, the team anticipated finding a desert, with no life because it was all poisoned, says the lead researcher.

What they found amazed them. Vedenin remembers his scientists reacting with shock when the submersible first transmitted footage. That moment was a great moment, he notes.

Numerous of marine animals had made their homes amid the munitions, creating a renewed habitat denser than the sea floor around it.

This underwater metropolis was evidence to the tenacity of life. It is actually astonishing how much life we discover in locations that are supposed to be hazardous and harmful, he explains.

Over 40 starfish had gathered on to one exposed chunk of TNT. They were dwelling on metal shells, ignition chambers and storage boxes just centimetres from its dangerous content. Marine fish, crustaceans, anemones and mussels were all found on the old munitions. You could compare it with a coral reef in terms of the amount of fauna that was there, says Vedenin.

Surprising Population Density

An mean of more than forty thousand organisms were dwelling on every meter squared of the explosives, experts wrote in their study on the finding. The adjacent region was much less diverse, with only 8,000 creatures on every square metre.

It is surprising that objects that are designed to eliminate everything are hosting so much marine organisms, explains Vedenin. You can see how the natural world evolves after a catastrophic event such as the second world war and how, in certain respects, marine life returns to the most dangerous locations.

Man-made Features as Ocean Environments

Man-made structures such as sunken vessels, wind turbines, oil rigs and undersea pipes can offer replacements, compensating for some of the lost habitat. This study reveals that munitions could be equally beneficial – the proliferation of marine organisms on those in the Lübeck Bay is likely to be found in other locations.

Between the late 1940s and 1948, 1.6 million tonnes of munitions were disposed of off the German coast. Numerous of individuals transported them in barges; a portion were dropped in designated areas, the remainder just thrown overboard during transport. This is the first time experts have studied how marine life has responded.

Global Examples of Ocean Transformation

• In the United States, decommissioned oil and gas structures have become marine habitats
• Submerged vessels from the first world war have become habitats for wildlife along the Potomac in the state of Maryland
• Tank tracks that have become home to coral off Asan beach in the Pacific island

These locations become even more important for wildlife as the seas are increasingly stripped by fishing, seafloor dredging and anchoring. Sunken ships and explosive disposal locations practically function as sanctuaries – they are not official reserves, but almost any kind of anthropogenic disturbance is banned, states Vedenin. Therefore a many of marine species that are usually uncommon or decreasing, such as the cod fish, are prospering.

Future Considerations

Anywhere armed conflict has occurred in the last century, nearby oceans are usually containing weapons, states Vedenin. Many millions of tonnes of volatile compounds lie in our oceans.

The sites of these weapons are poorly recorded, in part because of international boundaries, classified defense data and the situation that records are stored in old files. They present an detonation and safety danger, as well as risk from the persistent leakage of poisonous compounds.

As the German government and additional nations start clearing these artifacts, researchers plan to preserve the habitats that have formed in their vicinity. In the Bay of Lübeck munitions are currently being cleared.

We should replace these metal carcasses originating from munitions with some more secure, some safe materials, like perhaps concrete structures, says Vedenin.

He currently aspires that what happens in Lübeck establishes a example for replacing structures after munitions removal in other locations – because including the most harmful explosives can become framework for marine organisms.