Nazi Munitions, Torpedo Heads and Naval Mines: How Ocean Creatures Flourishes on Discarded Weapons

In the slightly salty waters off the German coast rests a graveyard of World War II explosives, torpedoes and naval mines. Thrown off barges at the end of the second world war and neglected, thousands munitions have fused into clusters over the years. They create a corroding carpet on the shallow, silty ocean floor of the Bay of Lübeck in the western part of the Baltic.

Over the years, the wartime weapons was ignored and forgotten about. A increasing amount of tourists flocked to the coastal areas and calm waters for water sports, kite surfing and entertainment venues. Below the waves, the weapons eroded.

Researchers expected to see a desert, with nothing living there because it was all contaminated, says Andrey Vedenin.

When the team went looking to see what they were affecting to the ecosystem, the team anticipated finding a lifeless zone, with no organisms because it was all toxic, says Andrey Vedenin.

What they found amazed them. Vedenin remembers his scientists shouting with surprise when the ROV first transmitted footage. This was a remarkable experience, he says.

Countless of sea creatures had settled on the explosives, forming a regenerated ecosystem denser than the seabed nearby.

This marine city was proof to the persistence of life. It is actually astonishing how much marine organisms we discover in areas that are considered hazardous and harmful, he explains.

More than 40 starfish had piled on to one accessible chunk of explosive material. They were living on steel casings, detonator compartments and carrying containers just a short distance from its volatile core. Marine fish, crabs, anemones and bivalves were all discovered on the historic weapons. You could compare it with a reef ecosystem in terms of the amount of fauna that was present, notes Vedenin.

Surprising Population Density

An mean of more than 40,000 organisms were dwelling on every meter squared of the weapons, scientists reported in their paper on the observation. The adjacent region was much less diverse, with only 8,000 creatures on every meter squared.

It is surprising that objects that are meant to eliminate all life are hosting so much life, explains Vedenin. You can see how nature adapts after a catastrophic event such as the World War II and how, in certain respects, life finds its way to the most risky areas.

Man-made Features as Ocean Habitats

Man-made constructions such as shipwrecks, offshore windfarms, drilling platforms and pipelines can provide substitutes, replacing some of the lost marine environment. This investigation shows that munitions could be comparably advantageous – the explosion of life on those in the Bay of Lübeck is expected to be repeated in different areas.

Between the late 1940s and 1948, 1.6 million tons of weapons were dumped off the Germany's coast. Numerous of individuals placed them in boats; a portion were dropped in specific areas, the remainder just thrown overboard while traveling. This is the initial instance scientists have studied how marine life has responded.

Global Instances of Ocean Adaptation

• In the US, decommissioned oil and gas structures have transformed into reef ecosystems
• Submerged vessels from the first world war have become homes for marine life along the Potomac River in Maryland
• Military vehicle parts that have become environment to reef-building organisms off Asan beach in the Pacific island

These places become even more crucial for wildlife as the marine environments are increasingly stripped by commercial fishing, bottom trawling and anchoring. Sunken ships and munitions areas practically serve as protected areas – they are not official reserves, but almost any kind of human activity is restricted, says Vedenin. Therefore a lot of marine species that are typically rare or decreasing, such as the cod fish, are thriving.

Coming Factors

Wherever warfare has happened in the last century, surrounding seas are usually littered with munitions, states Vedenin. Millions of tonnes of dangerous substances rest in our marine environments.

The locations of these explosives are insufficiently documented, partially because of national borders, restricted armed forces records and the situation that documents are hidden in historical records. They create an detonation and safety danger, as well as risk from the persistent leakage of poisonous compounds.

As the German government and additional nations begin extracting these relics, scientists plan to preserve the habitats that have formed around them. In the Lübeck Bay weapons are currently being cleared.

We should replace these iron structures left from weapons with some more secure, some safe materials, like maybe concrete structures, says Vedenin.

He now aspires that what occurs in the Bay of Lübeck creates a model for substituting material after munitions removal in other locations – because also the most damaging weaponry can become foundation for ocean ecosystems.