Nazi Explosives, Torpedoes and Naval Mines: The Way Marine Life Flourishes on Discarded Weapons

In the slightly salty waters off the Germany's shoreline rests a wasteland of Nazi bombs, torpedo heads and mines. Discarded from barges at the end of the second world war and neglected, countless weapons have fused into clusters over the decades. They comprise a corroding layer on the shallow, muddy seafloor of the Lübeck Bay in the western tip of the Baltic.

Over the decades, the explosive stockpile was ignored and neglected. A increasing amount of visitors flocked to the coastal areas and tranquil sea for water sports, kite surfing and amusement parks. Underwater, the weapons eroded.

We initially thought to see a lifeless zone, with nothing living there because it was all contaminated, says Andrey Vedenin.

When the first scientists went investigating to see what they were affecting to the marine environment, the team anticipated finding a lifeless zone, with nothing living there because it was all poisoned, explains the lead researcher.

What they observed astonished them. Vedenin recounts his team members reacting with shock when the underwater vehicle first sent the images back. This was a remarkable experience, he recalls.

Thousands of ocean life had made their homes among the explosives, forming a revitalized marine community richer than the ocean bottom nearby.

This ocean community was evidence to the tenacity of marine life. Indeed astonishing how much marine organisms we discover in locations that are supposed to be hazardous and dangerous, he says.

In excess of 40 sea stars had clustered on to one accessible chunk of explosive material. They were dwelling on steel casings, detonator compartments and carrying containers just centimetres from its dangerous content. Marine fish, crabs, sea anemones and bivalves were all observed on the historic weapons. You could compare it with a coral reef in terms of the amount of fauna that was there, states Vedenin.

Remarkable Creature Concentration

An average of more than 40,000 creatures were dwelling on every meter squared of the munitions, experts wrote in their research on the finding. The surrounding area was much poorer in life, with only eight thousand individuals on every square metre.

It is ironic that items that are meant to eliminate everything are hosting so much marine organisms, says Vedenin. It's evident how the natural world adjusts after a major disaster such as the second world war and how, in certain respects, marine life returns to the most risky locations.

Artificial Features as Ocean Environments

Artificial features such as shipwrecks, wind turbines, drilling platforms and undersea pipes can provide substitutes, replacing some of the destroyed habitat. This research reveals that weapons could be equally positive – the explosion of marine organisms on those in the Lübeck Bay is probable to be repeated in different areas.

Between 1946 and the post-war period, 1.6 million tons of arms were discarded off the German coast. Numerous of individuals loaded them in boats; a portion were dropped in designated locations, the remainder just thrown overboard during transport. This is the first time scientists have studied how ocean organisms has adapted.

Worldwide Examples of Marine Adaptation

• In the United States, decommissioned energy installations have become marine habitats
• Submerged vessels from the World War I have become environments for marine life along the Potomac River in the state of Maryland
• Military vehicle parts that have become home to coral off Asan beach in the Pacific island

These locations become even more important for wildlife as the oceans are increasingly denuded by fishing, seafloor dredging and anchoring. Sunken ships and explosive disposal locations effectively function as sanctuaries – they are not official reserves, but nearly any kind of anthropogenic disturbance is banned, states Vedenin. Consequently a many of species that are usually scarce or diminishing, such as the cod fish, are flourishing.

Future Issues

Anywhere armed conflict has taken place in the past 100 years, surrounding seas are usually strewn with weapons, explains Vedenin. Millions of tons of volatile compounds remain in our marine environments.

The locations of these weapons are poorly recorded, partly because of sovereign limits, secret defense data and the situation that records are stored in old files. They create an detonation and security risk, as well as risk from the persistent leakage of toxic chemicals.

As Germany and additional nations embark on clearing these remains, researchers aim to safeguard the ecosystems that have developed around them. In the Bay of Lübeck weapons are currently being cleared.

We should substitute these iron structures left from weapons with some more secure, some safe structures, like possibly artificial reefs, suggests Vedenin.

He presently wishes that what occurs in the Bay of Lübeck creates a model for replacing material after explosive extraction elsewhere – because even the most destructive weaponry can become scaffolding for new life.