Nazi Bombs, Torpedo Heads and Naval Mines: How Ocean Creatures Prosper on Dumped Armaments

In the slightly salty sea off the German shoreline rests a collection of World War II explosives, torpedo heads and naval mines. Thrown off boats at the conclusion of the second world war and neglected, numerous weapons have fused into clusters over the decades. They create a rusting blanket on the shallow, silty seafloor of the Bay of Lübeck in the western part of the Baltic.

Over the years, the wartime weapons was ignored and forgotten about. A growing number of visitors came to the sandy beaches and tranquil sea for jetskiing, kiteboarding and amusement parks. Below the waves, the munitions decayed.

Some of us thought to see a desert, with nothing living there because it was all poisoned, states a scientist.

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

What they discovered astonished them. Vedenin recalls his team members exclaiming in amazement when the ROV first relayed pictures. This was a great moment, he says.

Thousands of marine animals had made their homes among the weapons, forming a renewed marine community richer than the sea floor nearby.

This ocean community was testament to the persistence of marine life. Indeed surprising how much life we find in places that are expected to be dangerous and dangerous, he says.

In excess of 40 starfish had gathered on to one exposed chunk of explosive material. They were dwelling on metal shells, detonator compartments and carrying containers just a short distance from its explosive filling. Fish, crustaceans, sea anemones and bivalves were all found on the discarded explosives. It resembles a reef ecosystem in terms of the abundance of creatures that was there, states Vedenin.

Unexpected Creature Concentration

An mean of more than forty thousand animals were residing on every square metre of the weapons, scientists wrote in their research on the finding. The surrounding area was much less diverse, with only eight thousand individuals on every square metre.

It is ironic that items that are meant to eliminate everything are hosting so much life, says Vedenin. You can see how the natural world evolves after a major disaster such as the second world war and how, in certain respects, life returns to the most hazardous places.

Man-made Structures as Ocean Environments

Man-made structures such as shipwrecks, offshore windfarms, drilling platforms and pipelines can create alternatives, replacing some of the lost habitat. This study demonstrates that explosives could be equally positive – the explosion of marine organisms on those in the Bay of Lübeck is expected to be duplicated in different areas.

Between 1946 and 1948, 1.6 million tonnes of weapons were disposed of off the Germany's coast. Thousands of individuals placed them in barges; a portion were dropped in allocated areas, others just thrown overboard during transport. This is the initial instance experts have recorded how marine life has adapted.

Worldwide Instances of Marine Transformation

• In the US, retired oil and gas structures have transformed into marine habitats
• Shipwrecks from the first world war have become environments for marine life along the Potomac River in the state of Maryland
• Military vehicle parts that have become habitat to coral off Asan in Guam

These places become even more important for organisms as the oceans are increasingly stripped by commercial fishing, bottom trawling and boat mooring. Shipwrecks and munitions areas practically function as protected areas – they are not official reserves, but nearly any kind of anthropogenic disturbance is prohibited, says Vedenin. As a result a lot of organisms that are typically rare or declining, such as the cod fish, are flourishing.

Future Issues

Anywhere warfare has occurred in the recent history, adjacent waters are often strewn with weapons, says Vedenin. Many millions of tonnes of volatile compounds rest in our marine environments.

The positions of these munitions are inadequately mapped, partially because of sovereign limits, secret defense data and the situation that archives are hidden in old files. They pose an detonation and security risk, as well as threat from the continuous emission of hazardous substances.

As Germany and other countries begin extracting these artifacts, researchers hope to preserve the ecosystems that have formed around them. In the Lübeck Bay munitions are presently being extracted.

Researchers recommend substitute these steel remains remaining from munitions with certain more secure, some non-dangerous structures, like maybe man-made habitats, suggests Vedenin.

He now wishes that what transpires in Lübeck sets a example for substituting habitats after munitions removal in different areas – because also the most damaging armaments can become scaffolding for marine organisms.