Nazi Munitions, Torpedo Heads and Mines: The Way Marine Life Prosper on Dumped Armaments

In the slightly salty waters off the Germany's coast sits a graveyard of Nazi bombs, torpedoes and mines. Discarded from boats at the conclusion of the World War II and left behind, thousands explosives have fused into clusters over the years. They comprise a decaying blanket on the shallow, muddy ocean floor 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 tourists came to the sandy beaches and tranquil sea for jetskiing, kite surfing and entertainment venues. Underwater, the munitions eroded.

Researchers thought to see a lifeless zone, with no life because it was all poisoned, states a scientist.

When the team went looking to see what they were doing to the marine environment, researchers expected to see a lifeless zone, with no life because it was all contaminated, states the lead researcher.

What they found surprised them. Vedenin recounts his colleagues reacting with shock when the underwater vehicle first sent the images back. It was a great moment, he says.

Thousands of marine animals had settled among the explosives, creating a regenerated ecosystem denser than the ocean bottom around it.

This ocean community was testament to the resilience of marine life. Truly surprising how much life we observe in areas that are expected to be dangerous and harmful, he states.

In excess of 40 sea stars had clustered on to one visible piece of TNT. They were living on steel casings, detonator compartments and transport cases just centimetres from its dangerous content. Fish, crabs, anemones and mussels were all observed on the historic weapons. You could compare it with a coral reef in terms of the abundance of fauna that was inhabiting the area, states Vedenin.

Remarkable Population Density

An mean of more than 40,000 organisms were dwelling on every square metre of the munitions, researchers documented in their study on the observation. The adjacent region was much less diverse, with only 8,000 organisms on every meter squared.

It is paradoxical that things that are designed to eliminate all life are hosting so much life, says Vedenin. One can observe how nature adjusts after a catastrophic event such as the second world war and how, in some way, life returns to the most hazardous locations.

Man-made Features as Marine Environments

Man-made structures such as shipwrecks, wind turbines, oil rigs and undersea pipes can create substitutes, restoring some of the removed marine environment. This investigation demonstrates that weapons could be comparably positive – the proliferation of marine organisms on those in the Lübeck Bay is likely to be found elsewhere.

Between the late 1940s and the post-war period, 1.6 million tonnes of weapons were dumped off the Germany's shoreline. Numerous of workers loaded them in boats; some were deposited in specific sites, the remainder just discarded at sea during transport. This is the initial instance experts have studied how ocean organisms has reacted.

Worldwide Instances of Ocean Transformation

• In the United States, retired energy installations have transformed into coral reefs
• Shipwrecks from the first world war have become environments for wildlife along the Potomac River in the state of Maryland
• Tank tracks that have become environment to reef-building organisms off Asan beach in Guam

These locations become even more valuable for marine life as the oceans are increasingly stripped by commercial fishing, bottom trawling and boat mooring. Sunken ships and weapons dump sites effectively act as refuges – they are not national parks, but almost any kind of human activity is restricted, states Vedenin. Consequently a lot of species that are typically scarce or declining, such as the cod fish, are prospering.

Future Issues

Anywhere warfare has happened in the past 100 years, nearby oceans are usually containing weapons, states Vedenin. Millions of tons of explosive material lie in our seas.

The sites of these weapons are poorly mapped, partially because of international boundaries, classified defense data and the reality that documents are buried in historical records. They pose an detonation and safety hazard, as well as danger from the persistent release of hazardous substances.

As Germany and other countries start removing these remains, scientists aim to preserve the marine communities that have developed around them. In the Bay of Lübeck weapons are currently being cleared.

We should substitute these steel remains left from weapons with some safer, some safe objects, like maybe concrete structures, suggests Vedenin.

He presently hopes that what happens in the Bay of Lübeck sets a example for replacing structures after weapon clearance elsewhere – because even the most damaging explosives can become foundation for marine organisms.