Nazi Bombs, Torpedoes and Naval Mines: How Ocean Creatures Flourishes on Discarded Armaments

In the slightly salty waters off the German coast lies a collection of Nazi bombs, torpedo heads and mines. Thrown off barges at the conclusion of the second world war and left behind, numerous munitions have accumulated over the decades. They form a rusting blanket on the shallow, muddy seafloor of the Lübeck Bay in the western part of the Baltic.

Over the years, the wartime weapons was overlooked and neglected. A increasing amount of tourists traveled to the sandy beaches and tranquil sea for jetskiing, kite surfing and amusement parks. Beneath the surface, the munitions decayed.

We initially anticipated to see a lifeless zone, with no life because it was all poisoned, says the lead researcher.

When the first scientists went investigating to see what they were doing to the ecosystem, researchers expected to see a lifeless zone, with no life because it was all poisoned, says Andrey Vedenin.

What they discovered surprised them. Vedenin recounts his scientists shouting with surprise when the submersible first relayed pictures. This was a remarkable experience, he recalls.

Countless of ocean life had settled on the weapons, forming a renewed marine community richer than the ocean bottom surrounding it.

This underwater metropolis was evidence to the tenacity of life. It is actually remarkable how much marine organisms we discover in areas that are supposed to be hazardous and harmful, he says.

In excess of 40 starfish had piled on to one exposed chunk of explosive material. They were living on iron containers, ignition chambers and transport cases just centimetres from its volatile core. Marine fish, crustaceans, anemones and mussels were all observed on the discarded explosives. It resembles a marine reef in terms of the abundance of animal life that was inhabiting the area, says Vedenin.

Remarkable Creature Concentration

An mean of more than 40,000 organisms were living on every meter squared of the explosives, experts documented in their paper on the discovery. The surrounding area was much poorer in life, with only eight thousand individuals on every meter squared.

It is ironic that items that are designed to kill everything are hosting so much life, explains Vedenin. It's evident how nature adapts after a devastating occurrence such as the World War II and how, in some way, life finds its way to the most dangerous areas.

Artificial Features as Marine Habitats

Artificial constructions such as sunken vessels, wind turbines, drilling platforms and pipelines can offer substitutes, compensating for some of the destroyed marine environment. This research shows that weapons could be comparably beneficial – the bloom of marine organisms on those in the Bay of Lübeck is probable to be duplicated in other locations.

Between 1946 and 1948, 1.6m tons of weapons were discarded off the Germany's shoreline. Countless of individuals placed them in vessels; some were deposited in specific sites, the remainder just dumped en route. This is the first time researchers have documented how ocean organisms has reacted.

Worldwide Examples of Ocean Adaptation

• In the US, decommissioned oil and gas structures have become reef ecosystems
• Submerged vessels from the World War I have become environments for marine life along the Potomac in the state of Maryland
• Tank tracks that have become habitat to reef-building organisms off Asan beach in Guam

These areas become even more important for organisms as the seas are increasingly depleted by fishing, bottom trawling and anchoring. Sunken ships and explosive disposal locations practically serve as protected areas – they are not national parks, but nearly any kind of anthropogenic disturbance is banned, explains Vedenin. Therefore a lot of species that are usually scarce or declining, such as the cod fish, are flourishing.

Future Factors

Wherever military conflict has taken place in the past 100 years, surrounding seas are often containing munitions, says Vedenin. Millions of tonnes of volatile compounds rest in our marine environments.

The sites of these munitions are inadequately mapped, in part because of sovereign limits, secret defense data and the fact that records are buried in historic archives. They present an explosion and security risk, as well as threat from the persistent emission of toxic chemicals.

As the German government and different states embark on extracting these remains, researchers hope to protect the marine communities that have established around them. In the Lübeck Bay weapons are currently being removed.

Researchers recommend substitute these iron structures left from weapons with certain more secure, various safe materials, like perhaps man-made habitats, says Vedenin.

He presently wishes that what transpires in Lübeck creates a model for replacing material after weapon clearance elsewhere – because also the most destructive armaments can become framework for new life.