Nazi Bombs, Torpedo Heads and Naval Mines: How Ocean Creatures Prosper on Abandoned Armaments

In the brackish sea off the German shoreline sits a collection of World War II explosives, torpedo heads and naval mines. Thrown off barges at the conclusion of the World War II and forgotten about, numerous munitions have accumulated over the years. They create a rusting blanket on the low-depth, silty seafloor of the Bay of Lübeck in the western part of the Baltic Sea.

Over the years, the explosive stockpile was ignored and neglected. A growing number of tourists flocked to the coastal areas and tranquil sea for jetskiing, kiteboarding and amusement parks. Beneath the surface, the munitions eroded.

Researchers thought to see a barren area, with nothing living there because it was all contaminated, states Andrey Vedenin.

When the initial researchers went searching to see what they were doing to the ecosystem, researchers thought they would find a lifeless zone, with no life because it was all toxic, says the lead researcher.

What they found astonished them. Vedenin recalls his team members shouting with surprise when the underwater vehicle first sent the images back. This was a remarkable experience, he notes.

Thousands of marine animals had made their homes among the explosives, developing a renewed ecosystem denser than the ocean bottom around it.

This underwater metropolis was proof to the tenacity of life. Truly astonishing how much marine organisms we discover in locations that are considered dangerous and risky, he explains.

More than 40 sea stars had clustered on to one visible fragment of TNT. They were living on iron containers, fuse pockets and transport cases just a short distance from its volatile core. Fish, crustaceans, sea anemones and bivalves were all discovered on the historic weapons. It's similar to a reef ecosystem in terms of the quantity of animal life that was inhabiting the area, says Vedenin.

Remarkable Creature Concentration

An average of more than 40,000 creatures were dwelling on every square metre of the munitions, experts documented in their research on the observation. The surrounding area was much sparser, with only 8,000 creatures on every meter squared.

It is surprising that objects that are designed to eliminate everything are hosting so much marine organisms, says Vedenin. It's evident how nature evolves after a major disaster such as the second world war and how, in certain respects, life returns to the most dangerous areas.

Artificial Structures as Ocean Habitats

Artificial features such as sunken vessels, wind turbines, drilling platforms and pipelines can create substitutes, restoring some of the lost habitat. This research shows that explosives could be comparably beneficial – the explosion of marine organisms on those in the Bay of Lübeck is probable to be found in different areas.

Between 1946 and 1948, 1.6m tonnes of arms were discarded off the Germany's shoreline. Numerous of workers transported them in vessels; some were placed in allocated sites, the remainder just discarded at sea while traveling. This is the first time experts have recorded how ocean organisms has responded.

Worldwide Instances of Marine Transformation

• In the US, retired oil and gas structures have transformed into coral reefs
• Shipwrecks from the World War I have become habitats for marine life along the Potomac River in Maryland
• Tank tracks that have become habitat to reef-building organisms off Asan beach in Guam

These areas become even more crucial for organisms as the marine environments are increasingly stripped by fishing, bottom trawling and anchoring. Shipwrecks and weapons dump sites essentially function as protected areas – they are not official reserves, but almost any kind of anthropogenic disturbance is restricted, says Vedenin. Consequently a numerous of marine species that are usually rare or decreasing, such as the cod fish, are prospering.

Coming Considerations

Wherever armed conflict has taken place in the last century, surrounding seas are usually strewn with munitions, states Vedenin. Millions of tonnes of volatile compounds lie in our oceans.

The positions of these munitions are poorly documented, partially because of national borders, restricted defense data and the situation that documents are stored in old files. They create an explosion and safety hazard, as well as threat from the ongoing leakage of poisonous compounds.

As Germany and other countries begin extracting these artifacts, researchers aim to preserve the ecosystems that have established in their vicinity. In the Lübeck Bay explosives are already being extracted.

It would be wise to substitute these iron structures remaining from munitions with certain less dangerous, some non-dangerous structures, like maybe concrete structures, says Vedenin.

He currently wishes that what transpires in the Bay of Lübeck sets a example for substituting structures after munitions removal in other locations – because even the most damaging weaponry can become scaffolding for new life.