Nazi Munitions, Torpedo Heads and Naval Mines: How Marine Life Prosper on Dumped Weapons

In the brackish sea off the Germany's coast rests a wasteland of World War II explosives, torpedoes and mines. Discarded from barges at the conclusion of the World War II and forgotten about, thousands weapons have accumulated over the years. They form a rusting layer on the low-depth, muddy ocean floor of the Lübeck Bay in the western part of the Baltic Sea.

Over the years, the wartime weapons was ignored and forgotten about. A growing number of tourists traveled to the coastal areas and calm waters for water sports, kite surfing and amusement parks. Beneath the surface, the weapons eroded.

Some of us anticipated to see a desert, with no organisms because it was all toxic, explains the lead researcher.

When the first scientists went looking to see what they were doing to the ecosystem, the team expected to see a lifeless zone, with nothing living there because it was all contaminated, states a scientist.

What they found amazed them. Vedenin recalls his team members shouting with surprise when the ROV first relayed pictures. That moment was a great moment, he says.

Numerous of sea creatures had made their homes amid the munitions, creating a renewed marine community more populous than the ocean bottom around it.

This underwater metropolis was proof to the resilience of life. Truly remarkable how much life we observe in areas that are considered hazardous and harmful, he says.

In excess of 40 sea stars had piled on to one accessible piece of explosive material. They were residing on metal shells, fuse pockets and transport cases just centimetres from its volatile core. Marine fish, crabs, sea anemones and mussels were all found on the historic weapons. It resembles a coral reef in terms of the amount of animal life that was there, notes Vedenin.

Surprising Creature Concentration

An mean of more than 40,000 organisms were living on every meter squared of the weapons, experts documented in their research on the observation. The nearby seabed was much sparser, with only 8,000 organisms on every meter squared.

It is ironic that things that are intended to eliminate all life are attracting so much marine organisms, explains Vedenin. One can observe how the natural world adjusts after a catastrophic event such as the World War II and how, in some way, life finds its way to the most dangerous locations.

Artificial Structures as Marine Environments

Man-made features such as sunken vessels, wind turbines, oil rigs and pipelines can offer alternatives, replacing some of the destroyed marine environment. This research demonstrates that weapons could be equally advantageous – the explosion of marine organisms on those in the Bay of Lübeck is expected to be found in other locations.

Between 1946 and 1948, 1.6m tonnes of munitions were discarded off the German coast. Countless of people placed them in vessels; a portion were dropped in specific areas, the remainder just discarded at sea while traveling. This is the initial instance experts have recorded how marine life has responded.

Global Examples of Ocean Adaptation

• In the US, decommissioned drilling platforms have become reef ecosystems
• Sunken ships from the World War I have become homes for creatures along the Potomac River in the state of Maryland
• Tank tracks that have become environment to reef-building organisms off Asan beach in the Pacific island

These areas become even more valuable for organisms as the oceans are increasingly depleted by fishing, bottom trawling and boat mooring. Sunken ships and munitions areas practically function as refuges – they are not official reserves, but almost any kind of human activity is banned, says Vedenin. As a result a lot of species that are usually rare or decreasing, such as the Baltic cod, are flourishing.

Coming Factors

Wherever armed conflict has taken place in the last century, surrounding seas are often littered with weapons, explains Vedenin. Many millions of tons of explosive material rest in our oceans.

The sites of these weapons are inadequately recorded, partially because of sovereign limits, secret defense data and the reality that documents are hidden in old files. They create an explosion and safety risk, as well as threat from the persistent release of poisonous compounds.

As the German government and different states begin removing these remains, experts plan to protect the marine communities that have formed around them. In the Lübeck Bay explosives are presently being extracted.

We should replace these steel remains left from weapons with certain more secure, various harmless objects, like possibly man-made habitats, states Vedenin.

He now hopes that what transpires in the Bay of Lübeck creates a precedent for substituting material after munitions removal elsewhere – because including the most harmful explosives can become foundation for ocean ecosystems.