Nazi Explosives, Torpedo Heads and Mines: How Marine Life Prosper on Discarded Weapons

In the slightly salty sea off the German shoreline rests a collection of World War II explosives, torpedo heads and mines. Thrown off vessels at the conclusion of the second world war and forgotten about, numerous munitions have become matted together over the years. They comprise a decaying blanket on the low-depth, muddy ocean floor of the Bay of Lübeck in the western tip of the Baltic Sea.

Over the years, the explosive stockpile was ignored and forgotten about. A growing number of visitors flocked to the coastal areas and tranquil sea for jetskiing, kite surfing and entertainment venues. Beneath the surface, the weapons deteriorated.

Researchers thought to see a lifeless zone, with no life because it was all contaminated, states a scientist.

When the first scientists went searching to see what they were affecting to the ecosystem, researchers anticipated finding a desert, with nothing living there because it was all contaminated, says a scientist.

What they observed amazed them. Vedenin remembers his colleagues reacting with shock when the underwater vehicle first sent the images back. This was a great moment, he recalls.

Numerous of ocean life had established habitats on the explosives, forming a revitalized marine community denser than the sea floor nearby.

This ocean community was proof to the resilience of life. Indeed astonishing how much marine organisms we discover in places that are considered dangerous and risky, he explains.

In excess of 40 sea stars had clustered on to one visible chunk of TNT. They were dwelling on metal shells, fuse pockets and carrying containers just a short distance from its dangerous content. Marine fish, crustaceans, anemones and mussels were all discovered on the historic weapons. It resembles a reef ecosystem in terms of the abundance of creatures that was inhabiting the area, notes Vedenin.

Unexpected Creature Concentration

An mean of more than forty thousand animals were residing on every meter squared of the explosives, researchers reported in their research on the observation. The adjacent region was much sparser, with only eight thousand creatures on every meter squared.

It is paradoxical that items that are designed to kill all life are hosting so much marine organisms, states Vedenin. You can see how the natural world evolves after a major disaster such as the World War II and how, in some way, marine life returns to the most risky locations.

Artificial Structures as Marine Environments

Man-made features such as shipwrecks, wind turbines, oil rigs and pipelines can create substitutes, compensating for some of the removed marine environment. This study shows that explosives could be similarly advantageous – the proliferation of marine organisms on those in the Lübeck Bay is likely to be found in different areas.

Between 1946 and 1948, 1.6m tons of arms were dumped off the German shoreline. Thousands of individuals loaded them in vessels; some were dropped in designated areas, the remainder just thrown overboard en route. This is the initial instance researchers have studied how marine life has responded.

Worldwide Examples of Marine Adaptation

• In the United States, decommissioned drilling platforms have turned into coral reefs
• Sunken ships from the World War I have become environments for marine life along the Potomac in the state of Maryland
• Military vehicle parts that have become habitat to coral off Asan beach in Guam

These areas become even more important for wildlife as the marine environments are increasingly stripped by fishing, bottom trawling and boat mooring. Shipwrecks and munitions areas practically act as refuges – they are not official reserves, but almost any kind of human activity is restricted, states Vedenin. Therefore a many of species that are usually scarce or decreasing, such as the cod fish, are thriving.

Future Issues

Anywhere warfare has happened in the past 100 years, nearby oceans are often littered with explosives, states Vedenin. Millions of tonnes of volatile compounds rest in our marine environments.

The sites of these explosives are poorly mapped, partly because of international boundaries, secret defense data and the reality that records are stored in old files. They pose an detonation and security hazard, as well as risk from the ongoing leakage of hazardous substances.

As the German government and additional nations start removing these artifacts, experts plan to protect the habitats that have developed in their vicinity. In the Bay of Lübeck explosives are currently being removed.

Researchers recommend replace these iron structures left from munitions with certain more secure, various safe objects, like possibly artificial reefs, suggests Vedenin.

He presently aspires that what happens in the Bay of Lübeck creates a precedent for substituting habitats after munitions removal in other locations – because also the most harmful explosives can become foundation for ocean ecosystems.