Nazi Bombs, Torpedoes and Naval Mines: The Way Marine Life Thrives on Abandoned Weapons

In the brackish waters off the Germany's coast lies a wasteland of World War II explosives, torpedoes and naval mines. Dumped from vessels at the end of the second world war and left behind, countless munitions have accumulated over the years. They form a rusting layer on the shallow, muddy ocean floor of the Bay of Lübeck in the western tip of the Baltic Sea.

Over the decades, the Nazi arsenal was ignored and neglected. A increasing amount of visitors came to the coastal areas and calm waters for water sports, kite surfing and amusement parks. Below the waves, the weapons decayed.

Some of us expected to see a barren area, with no life because it was all toxic, states a scientist.

When the team went investigating to see what they were affecting to the ecosystem, the team expected to see a barren area, with nothing living there because it was all poisoned, explains the lead researcher.

What they observed astonished them. Vedenin recalls his scientists exclaiming in amazement when the ROV first transmitted footage. This was a memorable occasion, he says.

Numerous of marine animals had established habitats amid the weapons, developing a revitalized marine community more populous than the ocean bottom around it.

This ocean community was evidence to the persistence of marine life. Truly astonishing how much marine organisms we find in places that are expected to be toxic and dangerous, he says.

More than 40 sea stars had clustered on to one accessible fragment of explosive material. They were living on steel casings, detonator compartments and carrying containers just centimetres from its dangerous content. Fish, crustaceans, sea anemones and mussels were all discovered on the old munitions. You could compare it with a reef ecosystem in terms of the abundance of creatures that was present, says Vedenin.

Surprising Creature Concentration

An mean of more than forty thousand animals were living on every meter squared of the munitions, experts reported in their study on the discovery. The surrounding area was much poorer in life, with only eight thousand individuals on every square metre.

It is paradoxical that objects that are designed to kill all life are attracting so much life, explains Vedenin. You can see how nature adjusts after a major disaster such as the World War II and how, in certain respects, marine life finds its way to the most hazardous places.

Artificial Structures as Marine Environments

Artificial structures such as shipwrecks, wind turbines, drilling platforms and pipelines can offer alternatives, compensating for some of the destroyed habitat. This study shows that munitions could be similarly beneficial – the proliferation of life on those in the Bay of Lübeck is expected to be found in other locations.

Between the late 1940s and the post-war period, 1.6m tons of weapons were disposed of off the Germany's shoreline. Numerous of individuals placed them in boats; some were placed in specific locations, the remainder just dumped during transport. This is the initial instance experts have recorded how marine life has reacted.

Global Examples of Ocean Adaptation

• In the US, retired energy installations have turned into marine habitats
• Shipwrecks from the World War I have become homes for wildlife along the Potomac River in the state of Maryland
• Military vehicle parts that have become habitat to reef-building organisms off Asan beach in Guam

These areas become even more crucial for marine life as the marine environments are increasingly depleted by fishing, seafloor dredging and anchoring. Sunken ships and munitions areas effectively act as protected areas – they are not official reserves, but nearly any kind of human activity is restricted, states Vedenin. Consequently a many of marine species that are typically uncommon or decreasing, such as the cod fish, are flourishing.

Coming Factors

Wherever warfare has occurred in the past 100 years, adjacent waters are often containing munitions, explains Vedenin. Many millions of tonnes of dangerous substances remain in our oceans.

The sites of these munitions are poorly documented, partially because of international boundaries, secret armed forces records and the situation that records are stored in historical records. They create an detonation and safety danger, as well as threat from the continuous leakage of poisonous compounds.

As the German government and other countries embark on extracting these relics, researchers hope to safeguard the marine communities that have developed around them. In the Bay of Lübeck explosives are already being extracted.

Researchers recommend replace these metal carcasses left from munitions with certain safer, some harmless structures, like possibly artificial reefs, states Vedenin.

He presently wishes that what happens in Lübeck creates a precedent for substituting habitats after explosive extraction in other locations – because also the most destructive armaments can become scaffolding for marine organisms.