Nazi Explosives, Torpedoes and Mines: The Way Ocean Creatures Thrives on Discarded Armaments

In the brackish sea off the Germany's coast rests a collection of World War II explosives, torpedo heads and mines. Thrown off barges at the end of the second world war and left behind, numerous munitions have accumulated over the years. They form a decaying blanket on the shallow, silty ocean floor of the Bay of Lübeck in the western tip of the Baltic.

Over the decades, the explosive stockpile was ignored and forgotten about. A increasing amount of tourists came to the coastal areas and tranquil sea for water sports, kite surfing and entertainment venues. Beneath the surface, the munitions decayed.

We initially anticipated to see a barren area, with no life because it was all toxic, says a scientist.

When the team went searching to see what they were doing to the marine environment, the team anticipated finding a desert, with no life because it was all contaminated, states a scientist.

What they discovered amazed them. Vedenin recounts his colleagues shouting with surprise when the underwater vehicle first relayed pictures. It was a great moment, he says.

Numerous of marine animals had established habitats among the explosives, creating a revitalized habitat more populous than the sea floor around it.

This ocean community was evidence to the persistence of life. Indeed surprising how much life we find in locations that are supposed to be hazardous and harmful, he explains.

Over 40 starfish had piled on to one exposed piece of TNT. They were dwelling on iron containers, ignition chambers and carrying containers just centimetres from its explosive filling. Fish, crustaceans, anemones and bivalves were all discovered on the old munitions. It resembles a marine reef in terms of the quantity of animal life that was there, states Vedenin.

Remarkable Population Density

An average of more than 40,000 creatures were living on every meter squared of the munitions, experts wrote in their study on the observation. The nearby seabed was much poorer in life, with only eight thousand organisms on every meter squared.

It is ironic that things that are designed to destroy all life are drawing so much marine organisms, says Vedenin. You can see how the natural world adapts 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.

Artificial Features as Marine Habitats

Man-made features such as shipwrecks, offshore windfarms, oil rigs and undersea pipes can provide alternatives, replacing some of the destroyed habitat. This research demonstrates that weapons could be similarly positive – the proliferation of life on those in the Lübeck Bay is expected to be repeated in other locations.

Between the late 1940s and 1948, 1.6 million tons of munitions were disposed of off the Germany's shoreline. Numerous of workers loaded them in vessels; a portion were deposited in designated areas, the remainder just thrown overboard while traveling. This is the first time experts have studied how ocean organisms has responded.

Worldwide Examples of Ocean Adaptation

• In the US, retired drilling platforms have transformed into reef ecosystems
• Sunken ships from the World War I have become habitats for marine life along the Potomac in the state of Maryland
• Military vehicle parts that have become environment to coral off Asan beach in Guam

These places become even more important for organisms as the marine environments are increasingly depleted by fishing, seafloor dredging and anchoring. Shipwrecks and munitions areas practically act as refuges – they are not official reserves, but virtually any kind of anthropogenic disturbance is banned, states Vedenin. Therefore a lot of organisms that are usually rare or decreasing, such as the Baltic cod, are thriving.

Coming Considerations

Anywhere military conflict has taken place in the recent history, adjacent waters are typically strewn with explosives, says Vedenin. Many millions of tons of dangerous substances rest in our oceans.

The positions of these munitions are inadequately mapped, partially because of sovereign limits, restricted armed forces records and the situation that documents are hidden in historical records. They create an explosion and security hazard, as well as danger from the persistent leakage of poisonous compounds.

As Germany and additional nations begin removing these remains, scientists aim to protect the marine communities that have formed in their vicinity. In the Lübeck Bay munitions are already being extracted.

It would be wise to substitute these iron structures left from weapons with certain more secure, some safe objects, like maybe artificial reefs, states Vedenin.

He presently hopes that what occurs in Lübeck sets a precedent for substituting habitats after explosive extraction in other locations – because also the most destructive armaments can become scaffolding for marine organisms.