Nazi Bombs, Torpedoes and Mines: The Way Ocean Creatures Thrives on Abandoned Armaments

In the brackish waters off the German shoreline lies a wasteland of Nazi bombs, torpedoes and naval mines. Discarded from boats at the conclusion of the second world war and left behind, thousands explosives have become matted together over the years. They create a decaying carpet on the shallow, silty seafloor of the Bay of Lübeck in the western part of the Baltic Sea.

Over the years, the wartime weapons was overlooked and neglected. A growing number of visitors flocked to the sandy beaches and calm waters for jetskiing, kiteboarding and amusement parks. Underwater, the munitions decayed.

Some of us thought to see a barren area, with nothing living there because it was all poisoned, states the lead researcher.

When the initial researchers went searching to see what they were doing to the ecosystem, researchers anticipated finding a desert, with no life because it was all toxic, explains the lead researcher.

What they discovered amazed them. Vedenin remembers his scientists shouting with surprise when the submersible first relayed pictures. It was a remarkable experience, he says.

Countless of ocean life had settled among the weapons, creating a regenerated ecosystem richer than the ocean bottom around it.

This marine city was testament to the tenacity of life. Truly astonishing how much marine organisms we observe in places that are expected to be hazardous and dangerous, he explains.

More than 40 sea stars had gathered on to one accessible chunk of TNT. They were residing on metal shells, ignition chambers and transport cases just a short distance from its dangerous content. Fish, crabs, anemones and mussels were all found on the discarded explosives. You could compare it with a coral reef in terms of the amount of fauna that was there, states Vedenin.

Surprising Population Density

An average of more than 40,000 organisms were dwelling on every meter squared of the weapons, researchers wrote in their research on the finding. The surrounding area was much poorer in life, with only eight thousand individuals on every square metre.

It is paradoxical that objects that are intended to kill everything are drawing so much marine organisms, states Vedenin. You can see how nature adapts after a devastating occurrence such as the World War II and how, in certain respects, life finds its way to the most hazardous places.

Artificial Structures as Marine Habitats

Artificial features such as sunken vessels, offshore windfarms, oil rigs and undersea pipes can provide substitutes, restoring some of the removed habitat. This investigation shows that weapons could be equally beneficial – the bloom of marine organisms on those in the Lübeck Bay is expected to be duplicated in different areas.

Between the late 1940s and 1948, 1.6m tons of munitions were disposed of off the Germany's coast. Numerous of people placed them in vessels; a portion were placed in specific areas, the remainder just thrown overboard during transport. This is the first time researchers have documented how ocean organisms has reacted.

Worldwide Examples of Ocean Transformation

• In the United States, decommissioned drilling platforms have transformed into reef ecosystems
• Sunken ships from the first world war have become habitats for wildlife along the Potomac River in the state of Maryland
• Military vehicle parts that have become environment to reef-building organisms off Asan beach in the Pacific island

These locations become even more important for marine life as the oceans are increasingly depleted by commercial fishing, bottom trawling and boat mooring. Shipwrecks and munitions areas essentially serve as refuges – they are not official reserves, but nearly any kind of human activity is restricted, states Vedenin. As a result a lot of organisms that are typically uncommon or decreasing, such as the Baltic cod, are flourishing.

Coming Factors

Anywhere armed conflict has taken place in the last century, surrounding seas are often littered with explosives, states Vedenin. Many millions of tonnes of volatile compounds remain in our seas.

The positions of these weapons are inadequately mapped, partly because of international boundaries, restricted defense data and the reality that documents are hidden in old files. They pose an detonation and safety danger, as well as threat from the ongoing leakage of toxic chemicals.

As the German government and other countries embark on clearing these relics, experts hope to protect the marine communities that have developed in their vicinity. In the Bay of Lübeck munitions are already being extracted.

Researchers recommend substitute these steel remains remaining from weapons with certain safer, some harmless materials, like maybe concrete structures, suggests Vedenin.

He now wishes that what occurs in Lübeck creates a example for substituting structures after explosive extraction in other locations – because also the most damaging weaponry can become foundation for ocean ecosystems.