Nazi Munitions, Torpedo Heads and Naval Mines: The Way Marine Life Flourishes on Abandoned Armaments

In the slightly salty sea off the Germany's coast sits a graveyard of World War II explosives, torpedoes and naval mines. Dumped from vessels at the conclusion of the second world war and left behind, countless explosives have accumulated over the decades. They create a corroding layer on the shallow, silty ocean floor of the Lübeck Bay in the western tip of the Baltic Sea.

Over the years, the wartime weapons was ignored and forgotten about. A increasing amount of visitors traveled to the coastal areas and calm waters for jetskiing, kiteboarding and amusement parks. Underwater, the weapons eroded.

Some of us anticipated to see a lifeless zone, with no organisms because it was all poisoned, says the lead researcher.

When the initial researchers went searching to see what they were doing to the ecosystem, some of us thought they would find a barren area, with no life because it was all contaminated, says a scientist.

What they observed surprised them. Vedenin recounts his team members exclaiming in amazement when the underwater vehicle first sent the images back. It was a great moment, he notes.

Numerous of ocean life had established habitats among the munitions, developing a renewed ecosystem richer than the ocean bottom surrounding it.

This ocean community was testament to the persistence of marine life. It is actually remarkable how much life we discover in places that are supposed to be hazardous and harmful, he says.

In excess of 40 starfish had clustered on to one exposed piece of explosive material. They were living on steel casings, ignition chambers and transport cases just centimetres from its volatile core. Marine fish, crabs, sea anemones and mussels were all discovered on the discarded explosives. You could compare it with a marine reef in terms of the abundance of fauna that was there, states Vedenin.

Unexpected Population Density

An average of more than 40,000 animals were residing on every square metre of the explosives, experts wrote in their research on the discovery. The surrounding area was much poorer in life, with only eight thousand organisms on every square metre.

It is ironic that objects that are meant to eliminate everything are hosting so much life, says Vedenin. One can observe how the natural world adapts after a major disaster such as the second world war and how, in certain respects, marine life returns to the most hazardous places.

Artificial Features as Ocean Environments

Artificial structures such as sunken vessels, offshore windfarms, drilling platforms and undersea pipes can provide alternatives, replacing some of the removed habitat. This research reveals that explosives could be similarly positive – the proliferation of life on those in the Lübeck Bay is likely to be found elsewhere.

Between the late 1940s and the post-war period, 1.6m tonnes of arms were discarded off the German coast. Numerous of people transported them in vessels; some were dropped in specific areas, the remainder just thrown overboard while traveling. This is the initial instance scientists have documented how ocean organisms has responded.

Worldwide Instances of Marine Transformation

• In the US, decommissioned energy installations have become coral reefs
• Submerged vessels from the first world war have become environments for marine life along the Potomac River in Maryland
• Military vehicle parts that have become habitat to coral off Asan beach in the Pacific island

These areas become even more important for organisms as the oceans are increasingly stripped by commercial fishing, seafloor dredging and boat mooring. Sunken ships and weapons dump sites effectively act as sanctuaries – they are not national parks, but virtually any kind of human activity is prohibited, explains Vedenin. As a result a many of organisms that are otherwise uncommon or diminishing, such as the cod fish, are flourishing.

Future Factors

Wherever warfare has taken place in the recent history, nearby oceans are typically littered with munitions, states Vedenin. Many millions of tonnes of dangerous substances remain in our oceans.

The positions of these explosives are poorly documented, in part because of sovereign limits, classified military information and the situation that records are hidden in historic archives. They create an detonation and security hazard, as well as threat from the persistent release of poisonous compounds.

As the German government and additional nations embark on clearing these remains, experts plan to safeguard the habitats that have developed nearby. In the Lübeck Bay weapons are presently being cleared.

Researchers recommend substitute these steel remains originating from munitions with certain safer, various safe materials, like possibly man-made habitats, suggests Vedenin.

He presently aspires that what happens in the Bay of Lübeck establishes a example for replacing material after munitions removal elsewhere – because even the most harmful weaponry can become scaffolding for new life.