Nazi Bombs, Torpedo Heads and Naval Mines: How Marine Life Flourishes on Dumped Armaments

In the brackish sea off the German coast sits a collection of Nazi bombs, torpedo heads and naval mines. Dumped from boats at the conclusion of the World War II and forgotten about, numerous explosives have fused into clusters 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.

Over the years, the explosive stockpile was ignored and forgotten about. A increasing amount of visitors came to the coastal areas and tranquil sea for jetskiing, kite surfing and amusement parks. Beneath the surface, the weapons eroded.

We initially thought to see a desert, with nothing living there because it was all toxic, explains the lead researcher.

When the team went looking to see what they were affecting to the ecosystem, 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 remembers his team members exclaiming in amazement when the ROV first sent the images back. It was a great moment, he recalls.

Countless of sea creatures had settled among the explosives, developing a regenerated ecosystem denser than the ocean bottom around it.

This marine city was testament to the tenacity of marine life. Truly remarkable how much marine organisms we observe in places that are expected to be toxic and risky, he explains.

More than 40 starfish had clustered on to one accessible piece of TNT. They were living on iron containers, ignition chambers and carrying containers just a short distance from its volatile core. Fish, crustaceans, sea anemones and mussels were all observed on the historic weapons. It resembles a marine reef in terms of the abundance of fauna that was present, says Vedenin.

Remarkable Creature Concentration

An mean of more than 40,000 animals were living on every square metre of the munitions, researchers wrote in their paper on the discovery. The surrounding area was much sparser, with only eight thousand organisms on every meter squared.

It is surprising that items that are meant to destroy all life are hosting so much marine organisms, says Vedenin. It's evident how the natural world evolves after a devastating occurrence such as the second world war and how, in some way, life finds its way to the most dangerous areas.

Man-made Structures as Marine Habitats

Man-made structures such as shipwrecks, offshore windfarms, oil rigs and pipelines can create substitutes, compensating for some of the destroyed habitat. This research demonstrates that explosives could be comparably positive – the explosion of marine organisms on those in the Lübeck Bay is expected to be found in other locations.

Between 1946 and the post-war period, 1.6 million tons of arms were discarded off the Germany's coast. Countless of workers placed them in boats; some were placed in specific sites, others just thrown overboard while traveling. This is the first time scientists have studied how ocean organisms has reacted.

Worldwide Examples of Ocean Adaptation

• In the US, decommissioned drilling platforms have turned into reef ecosystems
• Shipwrecks from the World War I have become homes for creatures along the Potomac in Maryland
• Military vehicle parts that have become home to coral off Asan in Guam

These areas become even more crucial for wildlife as the oceans are increasingly stripped by fishing, bottom trawling and anchoring. Sunken ships and weapons dump sites practically function as refuges – they are not national parks, but almost any kind of anthropogenic disturbance is banned, says Vedenin. Therefore a lot of organisms that are usually scarce or declining, such as the cod fish, are prospering.

Coming Considerations

Anywhere armed conflict has occurred in the last century, surrounding seas are often littered with weapons, explains Vedenin. Millions of tonnes of dangerous substances lie in our oceans.

The sites of these weapons are inadequately recorded, partly because of international boundaries, secret military information and the fact that documents are hidden in old files. They pose an explosion and security risk, as well as risk from the continuous emission of toxic chemicals.

As Germany and other countries embark on clearing these remains, experts hope to safeguard the marine communities that have developed nearby. In the Bay of Lübeck weapons are presently being removed.

We should substitute these iron structures left from weapons with some safer, some harmless structures, like possibly man-made habitats, suggests Vedenin.

He now hopes that what transpires in Lübeck sets a model for replacing structures after explosive extraction in other locations – because including the most destructive explosives can become framework for marine organisms.