Nazi Bombs, Torpedo Heads and Naval Mines: How Marine Life Thrives on Discarded Armaments

In the brackish waters off the Germany's shoreline sits a graveyard of Nazi bombs, torpedoes and mines. Dumped from vessels at the conclusion of the second world war and neglected, countless explosives have fused into clusters over the decades. They form a decaying carpet on the shallow, muddy ocean floor of the Bay of Lübeck in the western tip of the Baltic Sea.

Over the decades, the wartime weapons was ignored and neglected. A increasing amount of visitors traveled to the coastal areas and tranquil sea for jetskiing, kiteboarding and entertainment venues. Below the waves, the weapons deteriorated.

Researchers anticipated to see a lifeless zone, with no organisms because it was all toxic, says the lead researcher.

When the initial researchers went investigating to see what they were doing to the ecosystem, the team thought they would find a desert, with no life because it was all toxic, says the lead researcher.

What they discovered astonished them. Vedenin remembers his scientists shouting with surprise when the ROV first relayed pictures. This was a memorable occasion, he notes.

Numerous of ocean life had made their homes among the munitions, forming a renewed habitat richer than the sea floor nearby.

This ocean community was testament to the tenacity of life. It is actually remarkable how much life we observe in areas that are expected to be dangerous and risky, he states.

In excess of 40 starfish had piled on to one accessible chunk of explosive material. They were dwelling on metal shells, fuse pockets and storage boxes just centimetres from its dangerous content. Marine fish, crabs, anemones and mussels were all found on the discarded explosives. It resembles a reef ecosystem in terms of the amount of animal life that was inhabiting the area, notes Vedenin.

Surprising Creature Concentration

An average of more than forty thousand organisms were dwelling on every meter squared of the weapons, experts reported in their research on the discovery. The adjacent region was much less diverse, with only eight thousand organisms on every square metre.

It is ironic that items that are intended to kill all life are hosting so much life, states Vedenin. It's evident how the natural world evolves after a catastrophic event such as the World War II and how, in certain respects, marine life establishes itself to the most dangerous places.

Artificial Features as Marine Habitats

Man-made features such as sunken vessels, offshore windfarms, drilling platforms and undersea pipes can offer replacements, replacing some of the destroyed marine environment. This investigation shows that weapons could be comparably positive – the proliferation of marine organisms on those in the Lübeck Bay is probable to be repeated elsewhere.

Between 1946 and 1948, 1.6 million tons of arms were discarded off the German coast. Thousands of people loaded them in vessels; a portion were placed in specific areas, the remainder just discarded at sea en route. This is the first time experts have studied how marine life has reacted.

Worldwide Instances of Marine Transformation

• In the United States, decommissioned oil and gas structures have turned into coral reefs
• Shipwrecks from the first world war have become environments for creatures along the Potomac in the state of Maryland
• Tank tracks that have become environment to coral off Asan in Guam

These places become even more crucial for organisms as the oceans are increasingly stripped by commercial fishing, seafloor dredging and boat mooring. Sunken ships and explosive disposal locations practically act as protected areas – they are not national parks, but nearly any kind of human activity is restricted, explains Vedenin. As a result a many of organisms that are typically uncommon or diminishing, such as the Baltic cod, are prospering.

Future Considerations

Anywhere armed conflict has happened in the recent history, adjacent waters are often containing munitions, explains Vedenin. Millions of tons of volatile compounds lie in our seas.

The locations of these munitions are insufficiently recorded, in part because of national borders, classified military information and the fact that archives are buried in historical records. They pose an detonation and safety hazard, as well as threat from the persistent release of toxic chemicals.

As the German government and other countries begin clearing these artifacts, experts aim to protect the habitats that have formed nearby. In the Bay of Lübeck explosives are currently being cleared.

We should replace these steel remains left from munitions with certain less dangerous, some non-dangerous structures, like perhaps concrete structures, suggests Vedenin.

He presently aspires that what transpires in the Bay of Lübeck establishes a example for substituting material after explosive extraction elsewhere – because even the most harmful armaments can become foundation for marine organisms.