Nazi Bombs, Torpedoes and Naval Mines: The Way Ocean Creatures Thrives on Abandoned Weapons

In the brackish sea off the Germany's shoreline rests a wasteland of World War II explosives, torpedoes and mines. Dumped from boats at the conclusion of the World War II and neglected, numerous explosives have accumulated over the decades. They comprise a corroding layer on the shallow, muddy seafloor of the Lübeck Bay in the western tip of the Baltic Sea.

Over the years, the Nazi arsenal was ignored and neglected. A growing number of visitors flocked to the coastal areas and calm waters for jetskiing, kiteboarding and entertainment venues. Beneath the surface, the munitions decayed.

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

When the team went searching to see what they were doing to the ecosystem, the team expected to see a desert, with nothing living there because it was all poisoned, says Andrey Vedenin.

What they observed astonished them. Vedenin recounts his colleagues exclaiming in amazement when the underwater vehicle first transmitted footage. It was a memorable occasion, he says.

Thousands of ocean life had settled amid the munitions, creating a renewed habitat more populous than the seabed nearby.

This marine city was proof to the persistence of marine life. It is actually remarkable how much marine organisms we observe in areas that are supposed to be toxic and dangerous, he explains.

More than 40 sea stars had piled on to one accessible fragment of TNT. They were living on steel casings, detonator compartments and transport cases just a short distance from its dangerous content. Marine fish, crabs, sea anemones and bivalves were all discovered on the old munitions. It resembles a marine reef in terms of the amount of creatures that was present, says Vedenin.

Remarkable Creature Concentration

An average of more than 40,000 creatures were dwelling on every meter squared of the explosives, researchers wrote in their research on the discovery. The surrounding area was much sparser, with only 8,000 organisms on every meter squared.

It is surprising that things that are meant to eliminate all life are drawing so much marine organisms, states Vedenin. One can observe how the natural world adapts after a devastating occurrence such as the World War II and how, in certain respects, life establishes itself to the most dangerous places.

Artificial Structures as Ocean Habitats

Artificial constructions such as sunken vessels, wind turbines, drilling platforms and pipelines can provide replacements, compensating for some of the lost marine environment. This investigation demonstrates that explosives could be equally positive – the bloom of marine organisms on those in the Bay of Lübeck is expected to be duplicated elsewhere.

Between the late 1940s and 1948, 1.6m tonnes of weapons were disposed of off the Germany's shoreline. Numerous of workers placed them in vessels; a portion were placed in specific sites, the remainder just thrown overboard en route. This is the first time scientists have studied how ocean organisms has reacted.

Worldwide Examples of Ocean Adaptation

• In the United States, retired energy installations have turned into coral reefs
• Submerged vessels from the World War I have become habitats for creatures along the Potomac in the state of Maryland
• Tank tracks that have become environment to coral off Asan beach in Guam

These places become even more crucial for wildlife as the oceans are increasingly depleted by fishing, bottom trawling and anchoring. Shipwrecks and weapons dump sites essentially act as protected areas – they are not national parks, but almost any kind of human activity is banned, explains Vedenin. Therefore a lot of marine species that are otherwise rare or diminishing, such as the Baltic cod, are thriving.

Coming Considerations

Anywhere armed conflict has taken place in the past 100 years, nearby oceans are often littered with munitions, explains Vedenin. Many millions of tonnes of explosive material remain in our marine environments.

The locations of these explosives are poorly documented, partly because of international boundaries, restricted armed forces records and the reality that records are buried in historic archives. They present an detonation and security risk, as well as danger from the continuous release of hazardous substances.

As Germany and additional nations begin clearing these relics, experts aim to safeguard the habitats that have established around them. In the Bay of Lübeck munitions are presently being removed.

Researchers recommend substitute these metal carcasses originating from weapons with some more secure, various safe structures, like possibly man-made habitats, says Vedenin.

He currently hopes that what transpires in the Bay of Lübeck creates a example for replacing habitats after munitions removal elsewhere – because including the most harmful weaponry can become foundation for marine organisms.