Nazi Explosives, Torpedoes and Naval Mines: How Ocean Creatures Thrives on Dumped Armaments

In the slightly salty waters off the Germany's shoreline lies a wasteland of World War II explosives, torpedo heads and naval mines. Discarded from vessels at the conclusion of the second world war and neglected, thousands weapons have become matted together over the years. They comprise a corroding blanket on the shallow, muddy ocean floor of the Lübeck Bay in the western part of the Baltic Sea.

Over the years, the Nazi arsenal was overlooked and neglected. A growing number of visitors flocked to the sandy beaches and tranquil sea for water sports, kiteboarding and entertainment venues. Beneath the surface, the munitions eroded.

We initially anticipated to see a barren area, with no organisms because it was all contaminated, states a scientist.

When the initial researchers went searching to see what they were doing to the marine environment, researchers thought they would find a barren area, with no organisms because it was all contaminated, states a scientist.

What they observed astonished them. Vedenin recounts his scientists shouting with surprise when the ROV first relayed pictures. This was a great moment, he recalls.

Thousands of ocean life had made their homes amid the explosives, forming a renewed habitat more populous than the sea floor nearby.

This underwater metropolis was evidence to the resilience of life. Truly surprising how much life we discover in areas that are supposed to be toxic and risky, he says.

More than 40 sea stars had clustered on to one accessible chunk of explosive material. They were dwelling on steel casings, fuse pockets and carrying containers just a short distance from its explosive filling. Fish, crustaceans, anemones and mussels were all observed on the discarded explosives. It's similar to a reef ecosystem in terms of the abundance of animal life that was inhabiting the area, states Vedenin.

Unexpected Creature Concentration

An average of more than 40,000 creatures were dwelling on every meter squared of the explosives, experts wrote in their paper on the discovery. The adjacent region was much sparser, with only 8,000 organisms on every meter squared.

It is paradoxical that items that are designed to kill everything are hosting so much life, says Vedenin. It's evident how the natural world adjusts after a devastating occurrence such as the second world war and how, in certain respects, marine life returns to the most dangerous areas.

Artificial Features as Ocean Environments

Man-made features such as sunken vessels, wind turbines, oil rigs and pipelines can offer replacements, compensating for some of the removed marine environment. This study shows that weapons could be similarly positive – the proliferation of marine organisms on those in the Bay of Lübeck is likely to be found in other locations.

Between the late 1940s and 1948, 1.6 million tons of weapons were dumped off the German coast. Thousands of individuals loaded them in boats; some were dropped in allocated areas, the remainder just dumped during transport. This is the first time researchers have documented how ocean organisms has reacted.

Global Instances of Ocean Adaptation

• In the United States, decommissioned drilling platforms have become reef ecosystems
• Shipwrecks from the first world war have become homes for creatures along the Potomac in the state of Maryland
• Tank tracks that have become environment to coral off Asan beach in the Pacific island

These areas become even more valuable for wildlife as the oceans are increasingly denuded by commercial fishing, bottom trawling and anchoring. Sunken ships and munitions areas essentially serve as sanctuaries – they are not official reserves, but nearly any kind of anthropogenic disturbance is restricted, says Vedenin. Therefore a numerous of organisms that are typically rare or diminishing, such as the cod fish, are flourishing.

Future Considerations

Wherever warfare has occurred in the recent history, surrounding seas are usually littered with weapons, explains Vedenin. Many millions of tons of explosive material rest in our oceans.

The locations of these munitions are inadequately recorded, partially because of international boundaries, secret defense data and the fact that archives are hidden in historic archives. They create an detonation and security hazard, as well as risk from the continuous emission of poisonous compounds.

As the German government and additional nations embark on removing these artifacts, researchers plan to protect the ecosystems that have established around them. In the Bay of Lübeck explosives are currently being cleared.

It would be wise to substitute these iron structures remaining from munitions with some less dangerous, various harmless objects, like perhaps artificial reefs, says Vedenin.

He now aspires that what transpires in the Bay of Lübeck creates a example for replacing habitats after explosive extraction in different areas – because including the most damaging armaments can become foundation for new life.