Nazi Bombs, Torpedoes and Naval Mines: How Ocean Creatures Thrives on Dumped Weapons

In the slightly salty waters off the Germany's shoreline lies a wasteland of World War II explosives, torpedo heads and mines. Dumped from vessels at the end of the World War II and forgotten about, numerous munitions have fused into clusters over the years. They comprise a decaying blanket on the shallow, silty seafloor of the Bay of Lübeck in the western tip of the Baltic Sea.

Over the decades, the wartime weapons was overlooked and neglected. A increasing amount of tourists flocked to the coastal areas and calm waters for water sports, kiteboarding and amusement parks. Beneath the surface, the munitions deteriorated.

Some of us anticipated to see a lifeless zone, with no organisms because it was all contaminated, states the lead researcher.

When the team went investigating to see what they were affecting to the marine environment, some of us anticipated finding a lifeless zone, with nothing living there because it was all poisoned, explains the lead researcher.

What they discovered astonished them. Vedenin remembers his colleagues reacting with shock when the ROV first sent the images back. This was a remarkable experience, he notes.

Numerous of sea creatures had established habitats on the weapons, forming a renewed marine community denser than the ocean bottom around it.

This ocean community was proof to the persistence of marine life. Indeed astonishing how much life we observe in locations that are considered dangerous and risky, he says.

In excess of 40 starfish had gathered on to one exposed chunk of TNT. They were residing on metal shells, ignition chambers and storage boxes just a short distance from its volatile core. Fish, crustaceans, anemones and mussels were all observed on the discarded explosives. You could compare it with a marine reef in terms of the abundance of animal life that was there, states Vedenin.

Surprising Population Density

An average of more than 40,000 animals were dwelling on every meter squared of the weapons, scientists reported in their study on the finding. The adjacent region was much sparser, with only 8,000 organisms on every meter squared.

It is surprising that things that are designed to eliminate everything are hosting so much marine organisms, says Vedenin. You can see how the natural world evolves after a devastating occurrence such as the second world war and how, in certain respects, marine life returns to the most dangerous places.

Man-made Structures as Ocean Habitats

Man-made constructions such as shipwrecks, offshore windfarms, drilling platforms and undersea pipes can provide alternatives, restoring some of the destroyed habitat. This study reveals that explosives could be similarly beneficial – the bloom of marine organisms on those in the Bay of Lübeck is probable to be found in other locations.

Between the late 1940s and the post-war period, 1.6m tonnes of munitions were disposed of off the German shoreline. Thousands of workers loaded them in barges; a portion were dropped in specific locations, the remainder just thrown overboard while traveling. This is the initial instance scientists have documented how ocean organisms has adapted.

Worldwide Instances of Ocean Transformation

• In the US, decommissioned oil and gas structures have turned into marine habitats
• Submerged vessels from the World War I have become habitats for wildlife along the Potomac River in Maryland
• Tank tracks that have become home to reef-building organisms off Asan in the Pacific island

These locations become even more valuable for marine life as the marine environments are increasingly denuded by fishing, seafloor dredging and anchoring. Sunken ships and explosive disposal locations practically 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 usually rare or diminishing, such as the cod fish, are prospering.

Coming Factors

Wherever warfare has happened in the last century, nearby oceans are often strewn with munitions, says Vedenin. Millions of tonnes of dangerous substances rest in our seas.

The locations of these munitions are insufficiently mapped, partially because of international boundaries, classified military information and the situation that records are hidden in old files. They present an detonation and security danger, as well as threat from the continuous emission of hazardous substances.

As Germany and different states begin removing these artifacts, experts plan to protect the ecosystems that have formed nearby. In the Lübeck Bay munitions are already being extracted.

It would be wise to replace these metal carcasses remaining from munitions with some less dangerous, some safe objects, like maybe concrete structures, states Vedenin.

He now wishes that what occurs in the Bay of Lübeck creates a precedent for substituting structures after weapon clearance in other locations – because even the most damaging armaments can become foundation for marine organisms.