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

In the slightly salty sea off the Germany's shoreline sits a wasteland of World War II explosives, torpedoes and naval mines. Dumped from vessels at the conclusion of the World War II and left behind, thousands weapons have fused into clusters over the years. They comprise a decaying layer on the low-depth, muddy ocean floor of the Bay of Lübeck in the western part of the Baltic Sea.

Over the decades, the wartime weapons was ignored and forgotten about. A growing number of tourists traveled to the coastal areas and tranquil sea for jetskiing, kite surfing and amusement parks. Underwater, the munitions eroded.

We initially anticipated to see a desert, with no life because it was all poisoned, says Andrey Vedenin.

When the team went looking to see what they were doing to the marine environment, researchers thought they would find a desert, with nothing living there because it was all contaminated, states the lead researcher.

What they found amazed them. Vedenin remembers his scientists exclaiming in amazement when the ROV first relayed pictures. This was a memorable occasion, he says.

Numerous of sea creatures had established habitats among the weapons, forming a renewed habitat more populous than the ocean bottom around it.

This ocean community was evidence to the tenacity of marine life. Truly remarkable how much marine organisms we find in locations that are expected to be hazardous and dangerous, he explains.

More than 40 sea stars had gathered on to one accessible fragment of explosive material. They were dwelling on metal shells, detonator compartments and carrying containers just centimetres from its volatile core. Fish, crustaceans, anemones and bivalves were all found on the old munitions. It's similar to a reef ecosystem in terms of the quantity of fauna that was inhabiting the area, says Vedenin.

Remarkable Population Density

An mean of more than 40,000 creatures were dwelling on every meter squared of the weapons, researchers reported in their paper on the finding. The surrounding area was much sparser, with only eight thousand organisms on every square metre.

It is ironic that items that are intended to destroy all life are hosting so much life, states Vedenin. One can observe how nature evolves after a devastating occurrence such as the World War II and how, in certain respects, marine life establishes itself to the most risky places.

Man-made Structures as Marine Habitats

Artificial constructions such as sunken vessels, wind turbines, oil rigs and pipelines can create substitutes, replacing some of the removed marine environment. This investigation shows that explosives could be comparably advantageous – the explosion of life on those in the Lübeck Bay is likely to be found in other locations.

Between 1946 and the post-war period, 1.6m tonnes of arms were dumped off the Germany's shoreline. Numerous of individuals transported them in boats; some were deposited in specific areas, the remainder just thrown overboard during transport. This is the first time scientists have recorded how marine life has adapted.

Worldwide Examples of Marine Adaptation

• In the US, retired energy installations have become coral reefs
• Sunken ships from the first world war have become environments for marine life along the Potomac River in the state of Maryland
• Military vehicle parts that have become habitat to coral off Asan beach in the Pacific island

These locations become even more important for wildlife as the marine environments are increasingly depleted by commercial fishing, bottom trawling and boat mooring. Shipwrecks and explosive disposal locations practically act as sanctuaries – they are not official reserves, but nearly any kind of human activity is restricted, states Vedenin. Therefore a many of marine species that are typically uncommon or decreasing, such as the Baltic cod, are flourishing.

Coming Considerations

Wherever military conflict has happened in the recent history, adjacent waters are usually strewn with explosives, states Vedenin. Millions of tons of volatile compounds remain in our marine environments.

The locations of these weapons are inadequately documented, partially because of sovereign limits, secret military information and the fact that archives are buried in old files. They present an explosion and security danger, as well as danger from the ongoing release of toxic chemicals.

As the German government and different states start extracting these relics, researchers plan to safeguard the habitats that have formed nearby. In the Lübeck Bay munitions are presently being cleared.

It would be wise to substitute these steel remains left from weapons with some safer, some non-dangerous materials, like perhaps man-made habitats, says Vedenin.

He currently aspires that what happens in the Bay of Lübeck establishes a model for replacing habitats after munitions removal in other locations – because including the most harmful explosives can become framework for new life.