Nazi Explosives, Torpedo Heads and Mines: How Marine Life Flourishes on Abandoned Weapons

In the brackish sea off the Germany's shoreline rests a wasteland of Nazi bombs, torpedoes and mines. Dumped from vessels at the end of the second world war and left behind, thousands weapons have become matted together over the years. They create a corroding carpet on the low-depth, muddy ocean floor of the Lübeck Bay in the western part of the Baltic.

Over the years, the wartime weapons was ignored and neglected. A increasing amount of tourists traveled to the coastal areas and tranquil sea for water sports, kiteboarding and amusement parks. Beneath the surface, the weapons deteriorated.

Some of us thought to see a barren area, with nothing living there because it was all toxic, explains a scientist.

When the first scientists went looking to see what they were affecting to the marine environment, researchers expected to see a desert, with no life because it was all contaminated, says Andrey Vedenin.

What they found surprised them. Vedenin remembers his scientists exclaiming in amazement when the underwater vehicle first relayed pictures. This was a remarkable experience, he recalls.

Numerous of ocean life had made their homes amid the munitions, forming a revitalized ecosystem denser than the sea floor nearby.

This marine city was evidence to the tenacity of life. Indeed astonishing how much life we observe in locations that are supposed to be hazardous and harmful, he says.

Over 40 sea stars had clustered on to one accessible chunk of explosive material. They were residing on metal shells, fuse pockets and transport cases just a short distance from its volatile core. Fish, crustaceans, sea anemones and mussels were all discovered on the historic weapons. You could compare it with a reef ecosystem in terms of the quantity of creatures that was inhabiting the area, says Vedenin.

Surprising Creature Concentration

An average of more than 40,000 creatures were living on every meter squared of the explosives, scientists reported in their research on the observation. The surrounding area was much sparser, with only eight thousand organisms on every square metre.

It is paradoxical that items that are intended to kill all life are attracting so much marine organisms, says Vedenin. It's evident how the natural world evolves after a devastating occurrence such as the World War II and how, in certain respects, life establishes itself to the most risky locations.

Man-made Features as Marine Habitats

Artificial features such as sunken vessels, offshore windfarms, oil rigs and pipelines can offer replacements, replacing some of the lost habitat. This research demonstrates that weapons could be equally positive – the proliferation of life on those in the Bay of Lübeck is expected to be found elsewhere.

Between 1946 and the post-war period, 1.6 million tons of weapons were dumped off the Germany's shoreline. Countless of individuals loaded them in vessels; a portion were dropped in specific areas, the remainder just discarded at sea en route. This is the first time researchers have documented how ocean organisms has responded.

Worldwide Examples of Marine Transformation

• In the United States, retired energy installations have turned into marine habitats
• Shipwrecks from the World War I have become environments for marine life along the Potomac in Maryland
• Tank tracks that have become habitat to reef-building organisms off Asan in the Pacific island

These locations become even more valuable for wildlife as the marine environments are increasingly denuded by fishing, bottom trawling and anchoring. Sunken ships and explosive disposal locations practically serve as refuges – they are not official reserves, but virtually any kind of human activity is prohibited, explains Vedenin. Therefore a many of marine species that are usually scarce or declining, such as the cod fish, are flourishing.

Future Considerations

Wherever military conflict has happened in the past 100 years, surrounding seas are usually containing munitions, states Vedenin. Many millions of tonnes of volatile compounds lie in our marine environments.

The positions of these munitions are insufficiently documented, partially because of sovereign limits, restricted military information and the reality that documents are hidden in historical records. They present an explosion and safety hazard, as well as risk from the ongoing leakage of hazardous substances.

As Germany and additional nations embark on extracting these artifacts, researchers plan to safeguard the ecosystems that have established nearby. In the Bay of Lübeck explosives are currently being removed.

It would be wise to replace these metal carcasses left from weapons with certain more secure, various harmless structures, like possibly concrete structures, states Vedenin.

He currently hopes that what transpires in the Bay of Lübeck creates a precedent for replacing material after munitions removal in different areas – because even the most damaging weaponry can become framework for new life.