Nazi Explosives, Torpedoes and Mines: How Ocean Creatures Prosper on Discarded Armaments

In the brackish waters off the German shoreline sits a wasteland of World War II explosives, torpedo heads and naval mines. Dumped from vessels at the conclusion of the World War II and forgotten about, numerous munitions have become matted together over the decades. They create a corroding carpet on the low-depth, silty seafloor of the Bay of Lübeck in the western tip of the Baltic.

Over the years, the explosive stockpile was ignored and forgotten about. A growing number of tourists flocked to the sandy beaches and calm waters for water sports, kite surfing and amusement parks. Beneath the surface, the munitions eroded.

We initially expected to see a desert, with nothing living there because it was all contaminated, says a scientist.

When the team went searching to see what they were doing to the ecosystem, researchers anticipated finding a desert, with nothing living there because it was all poisoned, explains a scientist.

What they found surprised them. Vedenin remembers his colleagues exclaiming in amazement when the submersible first transmitted footage. This was a memorable occasion, he recalls.

Thousands of ocean life had settled on the munitions, developing a revitalized marine community denser than the ocean bottom around it.

This marine city was testament to the resilience of life. Truly remarkable how much life we discover in areas that are expected to be dangerous and harmful, he says.

In excess of 40 starfish had gathered on to one exposed piece of explosive material. They were residing on metal shells, detonator compartments and carrying containers just a short distance from its explosive filling. Fish, crabs, anemones and bivalves were all found on the historic weapons. It resembles a reef ecosystem in terms of the quantity of creatures that was there, notes Vedenin.

Surprising Creature Concentration

An average of more than forty thousand creatures were residing on every meter squared of the explosives, experts wrote in their research on the finding. The surrounding area was much poorer in life, with only 8,000 individuals on every meter squared.

It is surprising that things that are designed to eliminate everything are hosting so much life, explains Vedenin. It's evident how the natural world evolves after a devastating occurrence such as the second world war and how, in certain respects, life establishes itself to the most hazardous places.

Man-made Structures as Ocean Habitats

Man-made features such as shipwrecks, offshore windfarms, drilling platforms and undersea pipes can provide replacements, replacing some of the destroyed marine environment. This study reveals that munitions could be equally positive – the explosion of marine organisms on those in the Bay of Lübeck is likely to be duplicated in different areas.

Between the late 1940s and 1948, 1.6 million tonnes of munitions were dumped off the German shoreline. Numerous of workers transported them in barges; some were dropped in specific sites, others just dumped while traveling. This is the initial instance researchers have studied how marine life has responded.

Global Examples of Ocean Adaptation

• In the US, decommissioned energy installations have become coral reefs
• Sunken ships from the first world war have become habitats for creatures along the Potomac River in the state of Maryland
• Tank tracks that have become habitat to coral off Asan in the Pacific island

These areas become even more important for wildlife as the marine environments are increasingly denuded by fishing, bottom trawling and anchoring. Sunken ships and explosive disposal locations essentially function as sanctuaries – they are not official reserves, but nearly any kind of human activity is restricted, says Vedenin. Consequently a numerous of organisms that are otherwise rare or diminishing, such as the cod fish, are thriving.

Coming Considerations

Wherever warfare has happened in the recent history, nearby oceans are usually littered with explosives, explains Vedenin. Many millions of tonnes of volatile compounds rest in our seas.

The sites of these weapons are insufficiently documented, partially because of international boundaries, restricted armed forces records and the reality that records are hidden in historical records. They create an detonation and safety hazard, as well as threat from the continuous release of hazardous substances.

As Germany and other countries begin clearing these artifacts, scientists hope to protect the habitats that have developed around them. In the Bay of Lübeck weapons are presently being cleared.

Researchers recommend replace these iron structures left from munitions with certain less dangerous, various harmless structures, like perhaps man-made habitats, states Vedenin.

He presently aspires that what happens in Lübeck establishes a precedent for replacing structures after munitions removal in different areas – because even the most damaging armaments can become scaffolding for marine organisms.