Nazi Bombs, Torpedo Heads and Naval Mines: How Ocean Creatures Thrives on Discarded Weapons

In the slightly salty sea off the German shoreline sits a graveyard of World War II explosives, torpedoes and naval mines. Discarded from barges at the conclusion of the second world war and left behind, countless munitions have accumulated over the years. They create a rusting carpet on the shallow, muddy seafloor of the Lübeck Bay in the western part of the Baltic.

Over the decades, the wartime weapons was overlooked and neglected. A increasing amount of tourists came to the sandy beaches and calm waters for water sports, kiteboarding and entertainment venues. Underwater, the munitions decayed.

Researchers anticipated to see a barren area, with nothing living there because it was all contaminated, states the lead researcher.

When the first scientists went looking to see what they were affecting to the marine environment, some of us thought they would find a lifeless zone, with no organisms because it was all toxic, says Andrey Vedenin.

What they observed amazed them. Vedenin remembers his team members shouting with surprise when the submersible first transmitted footage. That moment was a memorable occasion, he recalls.

Countless of sea creatures had made their homes on the weapons, forming a revitalized marine community richer than the sea floor around it.

This ocean community was testament to the persistence of life. Truly remarkable how much marine organisms we discover in areas that are expected to be hazardous and dangerous, he says.

Over 40 sea stars had clustered on to one visible chunk of TNT. They were living on metal shells, fuse pockets and storage boxes just a short distance from its explosive filling. Marine fish, crabs, anemones and bivalves were all found on the discarded explosives. It's similar to a marine reef in terms of the abundance of animal life that was present, says Vedenin.

Unexpected Population Density

An mean of more than forty thousand animals were living on every square metre of the munitions, experts reported in their study on the observation. The adjacent region was much less diverse, with only 8,000 individuals on every square metre.

It is surprising that items that are designed to destroy all life are hosting so much life, states Vedenin. It's evident how nature adapts after a major disaster such as the second world war and how, in certain respects, marine life establishes itself to the most dangerous locations.

Man-made Features as Marine Habitats

Artificial structures such as shipwrecks, offshore windfarms, oil rigs and pipelines can provide alternatives, compensating for some of the lost marine environment. This investigation reveals that explosives could be similarly positive – the bloom of life on those in the Lübeck Bay is likely to be found elsewhere.

Between the late 1940s and 1948, 1.6 million tonnes of arms were disposed of off the Germany's coast. Countless of workers transported them in boats; a portion were deposited in designated locations, others just thrown overboard while traveling. This is the first time researchers have documented how ocean organisms has responded.

Global Instances of Marine Adaptation

• In the US, decommissioned energy installations have transformed into coral reefs
• Sunken ships from the World War I have become homes for wildlife along the Potomac River in the state of Maryland
• Tank tracks that have become habitat to coral off Asan beach in Guam

These places become even more important for organisms as the marine environments are increasingly denuded by fishing, seafloor dredging and anchoring. Shipwrecks and explosive disposal locations essentially function as protected areas – they are not official reserves, but almost any kind of anthropogenic disturbance is restricted, says Vedenin. Therefore a many of marine species that are usually uncommon or decreasing, such as the Baltic cod, are flourishing.

Future Considerations

Wherever armed conflict has happened in the last century, adjacent waters are often littered with explosives, states Vedenin. Many millions of tons of explosive material lie in our oceans.

The locations of these weapons are inadequately recorded, in part because of international boundaries, restricted armed forces records and the reality that records are stored in historic archives. They pose an explosion and safety hazard, as well as threat from the continuous leakage of toxic chemicals.

As Germany and different states start extracting these relics, experts hope to preserve the habitats that have formed nearby. In the Lübeck Bay munitions are presently being cleared.

Researchers recommend replace these steel remains remaining from munitions with certain less dangerous, some safe structures, like possibly artificial reefs, suggests Vedenin.

He now aspires that what transpires in Lübeck establishes a model for substituting structures after weapon clearance elsewhere – because including the most harmful armaments can become foundation for marine organisms.