Nazi Explosives, Torpedo Heads and Mines: The Way Marine Life Prosper on Dumped Weapons

In the brackish waters off the Germany's shoreline rests a wasteland of World War II explosives, torpedo heads and mines. Dumped from vessels at the conclusion of the second world war and forgotten about, numerous explosives have become matted together over the years. They comprise a decaying layer on the low-depth, muddy seafloor of the Lübeck Bay in the western tip of the Baltic.

Over the decades, the wartime weapons was ignored and forgotten about. A increasing amount of tourists traveled to the coastal areas and tranquil sea for jetskiing, kiteboarding and amusement parks. Below the waves, the weapons deteriorated.

We initially expected to see a desert, with no organisms because it was all contaminated, states Andrey Vedenin.

When the initial researchers went investigating to see what they were doing to the ecosystem, the team thought they would find a desert, with nothing living there because it was all contaminated, says the lead researcher.

What they found astonished them. Vedenin recounts his team members shouting with surprise when the underwater vehicle first relayed pictures. It was a memorable occasion, he recalls.

Numerous of marine animals had settled on the weapons, forming a revitalized ecosystem richer than the ocean bottom surrounding it.

This marine city was evidence to the resilience of marine life. It is actually surprising how much life we discover in places that are supposed to be dangerous and harmful, he says.

Over 40 sea stars had gathered on to one exposed piece of explosive material. They were residing on metal shells, fuse pockets and transport cases just centimetres from its volatile core. Marine fish, crabs, anemones and mussels were all discovered on the discarded explosives. It resembles a marine reef in terms of the abundance of creatures that was inhabiting the area, states Vedenin.

Surprising Creature Concentration

An average of more than 40,000 organisms were living on every meter squared of the munitions, scientists wrote in their research on the discovery. The nearby seabed was much poorer in life, with only 8,000 creatures on every meter squared.

It is paradoxical that objects that are designed to kill all life are drawing so much marine organisms, explains Vedenin. It's evident how the natural world adapts after a devastating occurrence such as the World War II and how, in some way, marine life returns to the most dangerous places.

Artificial Structures as Ocean Habitats

Man-made features such as sunken vessels, wind turbines, oil rigs and undersea pipes can provide substitutes, replacing some of the destroyed marine environment. This research shows that explosives could be comparably advantageous – the proliferation of marine organisms on those in the Lübeck Bay is likely to be duplicated in other locations.

Between the late 1940s and the post-war period, 1.6m tons of weapons were disposed of off the German shoreline. Countless of people loaded them in barges; a portion were deposited in allocated areas, the remainder just dumped while traveling. This is the initial instance researchers have documented how marine life has responded.

Worldwide Instances of Ocean Transformation

• In the United States, decommissioned drilling platforms have turned into reef ecosystems
• Submerged vessels from the World War I have become habitats for creatures along the Potomac in the state of Maryland
• Military vehicle parts that have become environment to coral off Asan in Guam

These areas become even more important for marine life as the oceans are increasingly denuded by fishing, seafloor dredging and anchoring. Shipwrecks and munitions areas effectively act as refuges – they are not official reserves, but virtually any kind of anthropogenic disturbance is banned, explains Vedenin. Consequently a many of marine species that are usually rare or declining, such as the Baltic cod, are thriving.

Future Issues

Anywhere armed conflict has happened in the recent history, adjacent waters are usually littered with munitions, says Vedenin. Millions of tons of volatile compounds lie in our marine environments.

The locations of these explosives are inadequately documented, partially because of national borders, restricted defense data and the fact that records are stored in old files. They create an explosion and security risk, as well as threat from the ongoing release of toxic chemicals.

As the German government and additional nations begin removing these remains, researchers plan to preserve the ecosystems that have formed around them. In the Lübeck Bay explosives are currently being removed.

Researchers recommend replace these iron structures originating from weapons with certain less dangerous, various safe materials, like possibly man-made habitats, suggests Vedenin.

He currently aspires that what transpires in the Bay of Lübeck sets a precedent for substituting habitats after weapon clearance elsewhere – because even the most destructive weaponry can become foundation for ocean ecosystems.