Nazi Explosives, Torpedoes and Mines: The Way Ocean Creatures Thrives on Dumped Armaments

In the slightly salty sea off the German coast rests a wasteland of Nazi bombs, torpedo heads and mines. Discarded from vessels at the conclusion of the second world war and left behind, thousands explosives have fused into clusters over the years. They form a rusting blanket on the shallow, muddy ocean floor of the Lübeck Bay in the western tip of the Baltic Sea.

Over the decades, the Nazi arsenal was overlooked and forgotten about. A increasing amount of tourists came to the coastal areas and tranquil sea for water sports, kiteboarding and amusement parks. Underwater, the munitions decayed.

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

When the first scientists went looking to see what they were affecting to the ecosystem, some of us anticipated finding a desert, with no organisms because it was all toxic, says a scientist.

What they discovered amazed them. Vedenin remembers his colleagues shouting with surprise when the ROV first transmitted footage. This was a great moment, he notes.

Numerous of ocean life had settled on the explosives, forming a renewed ecosystem more populous than the sea floor surrounding it.

This marine city was testament to the persistence of marine life. Indeed astonishing how much marine organisms we discover in areas that are expected to be toxic and harmful, he explains.

Over 40 sea stars had clustered on to one accessible chunk of TNT. They were living on iron containers, detonator compartments and transport cases just a short distance from its volatile core. Fish, crabs, sea anemones and mussels were all discovered on the discarded explosives. It resembles a reef ecosystem in terms of the amount of fauna that was present, states Vedenin.

Surprising Creature Concentration

An average of more than forty thousand organisms were dwelling on every square metre of the explosives, researchers wrote 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 objects that are designed to kill everything are hosting so much marine organisms, explains 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 hazardous locations.

Artificial Structures as Ocean Habitats

Man-made structures such as sunken vessels, wind turbines, oil rigs and pipelines can provide alternatives, compensating for some of the destroyed habitat. This research reveals that explosives could be similarly beneficial – the explosion of marine organisms on those in the Bay of Lübeck is expected to be repeated in other locations.

Between the late 1940s and the post-war period, 1.6 million tonnes of arms were disposed of off the Germany's coast. Numerous of people transported them in barges; a portion were dropped in specific locations, the remainder just dumped during transport. This is the initial instance researchers have documented how marine life has reacted.

Worldwide Examples of Marine Transformation

• In the US, decommissioned drilling platforms have transformed into reef ecosystems
• Submerged vessels from the first world war have become homes for marine life along the Potomac in Maryland
• Tank tracks that have become environment to coral off Asan beach in Guam

These areas become even more valuable for marine life as the marine environments are increasingly denuded by fishing, seafloor dredging and anchoring. Shipwrecks and explosive disposal locations effectively act as sanctuaries – they are not official reserves, but virtually any kind of human activity is prohibited, states Vedenin. As a result a many of organisms that are usually rare or diminishing, such as the Baltic cod, are prospering.

Coming Factors

Anywhere warfare has happened in the last century, nearby oceans are usually containing explosives, explains Vedenin. Many millions of tonnes of explosive material lie in our marine environments.

The sites of these munitions are poorly mapped, partly because of international boundaries, classified defense data and the situation that archives are stored in old files. They create an detonation and security danger, as well as risk from the continuous emission of poisonous compounds.

As Germany and different states begin clearing these remains, experts hope to protect the habitats that have developed in their vicinity. In the Bay of Lübeck munitions are currently being extracted.

We should substitute these steel remains left from munitions with certain more secure, various non-dangerous objects, like possibly artificial reefs, states Vedenin.

He now wishes that what happens in Lübeck sets a precedent for substituting material after weapon clearance elsewhere – because even the most damaging weaponry can become foundation for ocean ecosystems.