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

In the slightly salty sea off the Germany's coast lies a graveyard of World War II explosives, torpedoes and mines. Discarded from vessels at the conclusion of the World War II and left behind, numerous munitions have accumulated over the years. They form a rusting carpet on the low-depth, silty seafloor of the Bay of Lübeck in the western tip of the Baltic Sea.

Over the decades, the explosive stockpile was ignored and neglected. A increasing amount of tourists traveled to the sandy beaches and calm waters for jetskiing, kiteboarding and entertainment venues. Below the waves, the weapons deteriorated.

Researchers expected to see a desert, with no life because it was all toxic, states the lead researcher.

When the initial researchers went looking to see what they were affecting to the ecosystem, the team anticipated finding a desert, with no organisms because it was all toxic, says the lead researcher.

What they discovered amazed them. Vedenin remembers his scientists exclaiming in amazement when the ROV first sent the images back. That moment was a remarkable experience, he recalls.

Thousands of sea creatures had made their homes among the explosives, creating a revitalized ecosystem denser than the ocean bottom around it.

This marine city was evidence to the resilience of life. Indeed remarkable how much life we observe in places that are supposed to be hazardous and risky, he explains.

Over 40 starfish had piled on to one exposed chunk of TNT. They were living on steel casings, fuse pockets and transport cases just centimetres from its dangerous content. Fish, crabs, anemones and bivalves were all discovered on the discarded explosives. You could compare it with a marine reef in terms of the abundance of fauna that was there, notes Vedenin.

Unexpected Creature Concentration

An average of more than forty thousand organisms were residing on every square metre of the munitions, experts documented in their paper on the finding. The adjacent region was much poorer in life, with only eight thousand individuals on every meter squared.

It is ironic that items that are intended to kill all life are attracting so much marine organisms, says Vedenin. One can observe how the natural world adjusts after a catastrophic event such as the second world war and how, in certain respects, marine life establishes itself to the most risky places.

Artificial Structures as Ocean Environments

Artificial features such as sunken vessels, offshore windfarms, drilling platforms and undersea pipes can offer replacements, compensating for some of the lost habitat. This study shows that weapons could be comparably beneficial – the explosion of marine organisms on those in the Bay of Lübeck is probable to be found elsewhere.

Between the late 1940s and the post-war period, 1.6 million tonnes of munitions were dumped off the Germany's coast. Countless of people placed them in barges; a portion were placed in specific sites, the remainder just discarded at sea while traveling. This is the initial instance scientists have documented how ocean organisms has adapted.

Worldwide Instances of Ocean Transformation

• In the United States, decommissioned drilling platforms have become marine habitats
• Shipwrecks from the first world war have become homes for creatures along the Potomac in the state of Maryland
• Tank tracks that have become home to coral off Asan in the Pacific island

These areas become even more crucial for organisms as the seas are increasingly stripped by fishing, bottom trawling and boat mooring. Shipwrecks and explosive disposal locations essentially serve as protected areas – they are not national parks, but almost any kind of human activity is banned, explains Vedenin. As a result a many of species that are typically uncommon or decreasing, such as the cod fish, are flourishing.

Coming Factors

Wherever military conflict has taken place in the past 100 years, surrounding seas are usually littered with explosives, states Vedenin. Millions of tonnes of explosive material lie in our oceans.

The sites of these munitions are poorly mapped, partly because of national borders, restricted defense data and the reality that documents are hidden in historical records. They pose an detonation and safety danger, as well as danger from the persistent release of hazardous substances.

As Germany and additional nations embark on removing these artifacts, experts plan to preserve the marine communities that have established in their vicinity. In the Lübeck Bay weapons are currently being cleared.

It would be wise to substitute these steel remains left from munitions with certain safer, various safe materials, like maybe concrete structures, suggests Vedenin.

He currently hopes that what transpires in Lübeck creates a model for substituting structures after weapon clearance elsewhere – because including the most harmful explosives can become scaffolding for ocean ecosystems.