Nazi Munitions, Torpedo Heads and Naval Mines: How Ocean Creatures Thrives on Abandoned Armaments

In the slightly salty waters off the German coast sits a collection of World War II explosives, torpedoes and mines. Discarded from vessels at the end of the World War II and neglected, countless weapons have accumulated over the years. They create a corroding blanket on the low-depth, muddy seafloor of the Bay of Lübeck in the western part of the Baltic Sea.

Over the decades, the wartime weapons was ignored and neglected. A increasing amount of tourists traveled to the coastal areas and tranquil sea for water sports, kite surfing and amusement parks. Beneath the surface, the weapons eroded.

Some of us thought to see a lifeless zone, with no life because it was all contaminated, says the lead researcher.

When the initial researchers went looking to see what they were affecting to the marine environment, the team expected to see a barren area, with no life because it was all poisoned, says Andrey Vedenin.

What they discovered surprised them. Vedenin remembers his scientists shouting with surprise when the ROV first transmitted footage. That moment was a great moment, he notes.

Numerous of ocean life had made their homes on the munitions, forming a regenerated habitat richer than the ocean bottom nearby.

This ocean community was proof to the persistence of marine life. Truly remarkable how much life we find in locations that are expected to be toxic and risky, he says.

In excess of 40 sea stars had clustered on to one exposed chunk of TNT. They were residing on steel casings, detonator compartments and storage boxes just a short distance from its volatile core. Marine fish, crabs, sea anemones and bivalves were all observed on the old munitions. You could compare it with a marine reef in terms of the quantity of fauna that was inhabiting the area, states Vedenin.

Surprising Population Density

An average of more than forty thousand animals were dwelling on every square metre of the munitions, experts wrote in their research on the discovery. The adjacent region was much sparser, with only eight thousand creatures on every square metre.

It is paradoxical that things that are intended to destroy all life are drawing so much marine organisms, says Vedenin. It's evident how nature adjusts after a catastrophic event such as the second world war and how, in some way, life finds its way to the most risky places.

Man-made Structures as Ocean Habitats

Artificial constructions such as sunken vessels, wind turbines, drilling platforms and pipelines can create alternatives, compensating for some of the destroyed habitat. This research reveals that explosives could be comparably advantageous – the explosion of life on those in the Bay of Lübeck is probable to be repeated elsewhere.

Between the late 1940s and the post-war period, 1.6m tons of arms were discarded off the German coast. Numerous of workers loaded them in barges; a portion were deposited in specific areas, the remainder just thrown overboard while traveling. This is the first time researchers have recorded how marine life has adapted.

Global Instances of Marine Transformation

• In the US, retired drilling platforms have turned into reef ecosystems
• Sunken ships from the World War I have become homes for marine life along the Potomac River in the state of Maryland
• Military vehicle parts that have become habitat to reef-building organisms off Asan beach in Guam

These areas become even more important for wildlife as the seas are increasingly denuded by commercial fishing, bottom trawling and boat mooring. Shipwrecks and weapons dump sites effectively act as sanctuaries – they are not national parks, but virtually any kind of human activity is restricted, explains Vedenin. Therefore a many of organisms that are typically scarce or declining, such as the Baltic cod, are flourishing.

Coming Factors

Wherever military conflict has occurred in the past 100 years, adjacent waters are typically littered with weapons, explains Vedenin. Millions of tons of dangerous substances lie in our seas.

The locations of these munitions are inadequately mapped, partly because of international boundaries, restricted armed forces records and the fact that documents are stored in old files. They pose an explosion and safety hazard, as well as threat from the continuous leakage of hazardous substances.

As the German government and different states begin clearing these artifacts, researchers hope to safeguard the ecosystems that have established in their vicinity. In the Lübeck Bay weapons are presently being extracted.

Researchers recommend replace these iron structures originating from munitions with certain more secure, various non-dangerous objects, like maybe artificial reefs, states Vedenin.

He currently aspires that what transpires in Lübeck creates a model for replacing material after munitions removal elsewhere – because also the most damaging armaments can become foundation for ocean ecosystems.