Nazi Explosives, Torpedo Heads and Naval Mines: The Way Ocean Creatures Thrives on Discarded Armaments

In the brackish waters off the German shoreline rests a wasteland of World War II explosives, torpedo heads and naval mines. Thrown off barges at the end of the World War II and forgotten about, countless munitions have fused into clusters over the decades. They comprise a decaying blanket on the shallow, silty ocean floor of the Lübeck Bay in the western part of the Baltic.

Over the decades, the explosive stockpile was overlooked and neglected. A growing number of visitors came to the coastal areas and tranquil sea for water sports, kiteboarding and amusement parks. Underwater, the munitions deteriorated.

We initially expected to see a lifeless zone, with nothing living there because it was all contaminated, says the lead researcher.

When the first scientists went investigating to see what they were doing to the marine environment, researchers thought they would find a lifeless zone, with no organisms because it was all toxic, says the lead researcher.

What they discovered amazed them. Vedenin recounts his scientists reacting with shock when the submersible first sent the images back. That moment was a remarkable experience, he says.

Numerous of ocean life had settled amid the weapons, creating a regenerated ecosystem more populous than the sea floor surrounding it.

This marine city was evidence to the persistence of marine life. Indeed astonishing how much marine organisms we find in locations that are considered dangerous and risky, he says.

More than 40 sea stars had clustered on to one accessible fragment of explosive material. They were dwelling on metal shells, ignition chambers and storage boxes just a short distance from its explosive filling. Marine fish, crustaceans, sea anemones and mussels were all discovered on the historic weapons. It's similar to a coral reef in terms of the quantity of creatures that was present, states Vedenin.

Surprising Creature Concentration

An mean of more than forty thousand organisms were residing on every meter squared of the explosives, researchers documented in their study on the discovery. The adjacent region was much sparser, with only 8,000 creatures on every meter squared.

It is paradoxical that items that are designed to eliminate all life are attracting so much marine organisms, explains Vedenin. It's evident how the natural world adapts after a catastrophic event such as the second world war and how, in some way, life returns to the most hazardous places.

Artificial Features as Ocean Environments

Artificial constructions such as sunken vessels, wind turbines, drilling platforms and pipelines can provide alternatives, restoring some of the removed habitat. This research demonstrates that weapons could be similarly beneficial – the explosion of marine organisms on those in the Bay of Lübeck is expected to be repeated in different areas.

Between 1946 and 1948, 1.6m tons of munitions were dumped off the Germany's shoreline. Thousands of people placed them in vessels; some were deposited in designated areas, others just dumped during transport. This is the initial instance scientists have studied how ocean organisms has responded.

Global Examples of Ocean Transformation

• In the United States, decommissioned drilling platforms have transformed into marine habitats
• Shipwrecks from the first world war have become homes for wildlife along the Potomac River in the state of Maryland
• Military vehicle parts that have become environment to coral off Asan in the Pacific island

These areas become even more valuable for wildlife as the seas are increasingly denuded by commercial fishing, bottom trawling and anchoring. Sunken ships and explosive disposal locations essentially act as sanctuaries – they are not official reserves, but virtually any kind of anthropogenic disturbance is prohibited, explains Vedenin. Therefore a many of organisms that are otherwise scarce or declining, such as the cod fish, are prospering.

Future Considerations

Wherever armed conflict has taken place in the past 100 years, nearby oceans are often containing munitions, states Vedenin. Millions of tons of explosive material rest in our oceans.

The locations of these explosives are poorly mapped, partly because of national borders, classified defense data and the reality that documents are stored in historical records. They create an detonation and security hazard, as well as danger from the continuous release of toxic chemicals.

As Germany and additional nations embark on removing these remains, experts aim to preserve the ecosystems that have established nearby. In the Bay of Lübeck explosives are presently being cleared.

Researchers recommend substitute these metal carcasses originating from weapons with some more secure, some non-dangerous materials, like perhaps man-made habitats, suggests Vedenin.

He currently wishes that what transpires in Lübeck creates a model for substituting material after munitions removal in different areas – because including the most damaging armaments can become scaffolding for ocean ecosystems.