Nazi Explosives, Torpedo Heads and Naval Mines: How Marine Life Prosper on Abandoned Weapons

In the brackish sea off the Germany's coast sits a wasteland of Nazi bombs, torpedo heads and naval mines. Dumped from boats at the end of the World War II and forgotten about, numerous explosives have fused into clusters over the years. They form a decaying carpet on the low-depth, silty seafloor of the Bay of Lübeck in the western part of the Baltic.

Over the years, the Nazi arsenal was overlooked and forgotten about. A growing number of visitors came to the coastal areas and tranquil sea for water sports, kite surfing and amusement parks. Beneath the surface, the munitions eroded.

Researchers anticipated to see a barren area, with no organisms because it was all poisoned, says Andrey Vedenin.

When the initial researchers went investigating to see what they were affecting to the ecosystem, the team expected to see a desert, with nothing living there because it was all contaminated, states the lead researcher.

What they found amazed them. Vedenin recalls his scientists shouting with surprise when the ROV first transmitted footage. It was a great moment, he notes.

Thousands of sea creatures had settled amid the explosives, developing a renewed ecosystem richer than the sea floor surrounding it.

This marine city was proof to the persistence of life. It is actually astonishing how much life we discover in locations that are expected to be dangerous and dangerous, he explains.

More than 40 starfish had gathered on to one visible chunk of explosive material. They were dwelling on metal shells, fuse pockets and storage boxes just a short distance from its explosive filling. Fish, crustaceans, anemones and mussels were all discovered on the discarded explosives. It's similar to a reef ecosystem in terms of the amount of animal life that was inhabiting the area, notes Vedenin.

Unexpected Population Density

An mean of more than forty thousand creatures were dwelling on every square metre of the explosives, researchers reported in their research on the observation. The adjacent region was much less diverse, with only 8,000 individuals on every square metre.

It is ironic that objects that are intended to eliminate everything are attracting so much marine organisms, explains Vedenin. One can observe how the natural world adapts after a major disaster such as the World War II and how, in some way, life returns to the most hazardous places.

Man-made Structures as Ocean Environments

Man-made constructions such as sunken vessels, wind turbines, drilling platforms and undersea pipes can provide alternatives, replacing some of the lost marine environment. This research shows that weapons could be equally positive – the bloom of marine organisms on those in the Bay of Lübeck is probable to be found elsewhere.

Between 1946 and the post-war period, 1.6 million tons of arms were dumped off the Germany's coast. Thousands of individuals placed them in vessels; some were placed in designated locations, the remainder just thrown overboard en route. This is the first time researchers have studied how ocean organisms has adapted.

Worldwide Examples of Marine Adaptation

• In the United States, retired drilling platforms have transformed into coral reefs
• Submerged vessels from the World War I have become homes for wildlife along the Potomac in the state of Maryland
• Tank tracks that have become home to reef-building organisms off Asan in Guam

These locations become even more valuable for marine life as the marine environments are increasingly denuded by fishing, seafloor dredging and boat mooring. Shipwrecks and explosive disposal locations essentially act as refuges – they are not national parks, but nearly any kind of human activity is banned, says Vedenin. Consequently a many of species that are typically scarce or declining, such as the cod fish, are prospering.

Future Factors

Anywhere armed conflict has taken place in the last century, surrounding seas are typically strewn with explosives, states Vedenin. Many millions of tonnes of volatile compounds lie in our oceans.

The positions of these explosives are inadequately documented, partially because of international boundaries, restricted military information and the reality that archives are stored in old files. They pose an detonation and safety risk, as well as danger from the persistent leakage of hazardous substances.

As the German government and other countries begin clearing these artifacts, scientists aim to safeguard the habitats that have established around them. In the Bay of Lübeck weapons are presently being removed.

We should replace these iron structures originating from weapons with certain safer, various harmless objects, like maybe man-made habitats, says Vedenin.

He presently aspires that what transpires in Lübeck creates a model for substituting structures after explosive extraction in different areas – because including the most destructive armaments can become framework for marine organisms.