Nazi Munitions, Torpedo Heads and Mines: How Ocean Creatures Thrives on Dumped Armaments

In the brackish sea off the Germany's coast sits a graveyard of Nazi bombs, torpedoes and naval mines. Thrown off boats at the conclusion of the World War II and left behind, countless munitions have accumulated over the decades. They form a decaying carpet on the low-depth, silty ocean floor of the Lübeck Bay in the western tip of the Baltic Sea.

Over the years, the wartime weapons was ignored and neglected. A growing number of tourists flocked to the coastal areas and tranquil sea for jetskiing, kiteboarding and entertainment venues. Below the waves, the weapons decayed.

Researchers thought to see a desert, with no organisms because it was all contaminated, states a scientist.

When the team went investigating to see what they were affecting to the marine environment, the team thought they would find a barren area, with no organisms because it was all toxic, states the lead researcher.

What they observed astonished them. Vedenin recounts his team members shouting with surprise when the underwater vehicle first sent the images back. That moment was a great moment, he says.

Thousands of ocean life had established habitats on the weapons, developing a renewed habitat denser than the seabed nearby.

This underwater metropolis was evidence to the persistence of marine life. It is actually surprising how much life we find in places that are supposed to be dangerous and risky, he states.

Over 40 sea stars had piled on to one exposed fragment of explosive material. They were dwelling on metal shells, fuse pockets and carrying containers just centimetres from its explosive filling. Fish, crustaceans, anemones and mussels were all found on the old munitions. It's similar to a marine reef in terms of the amount of fauna that was there, states Vedenin.

Surprising Creature Concentration

An mean of more than 40,000 creatures were living on every meter squared of the munitions, scientists reported in their study on the finding. The nearby seabed was much sparser, with only 8,000 organisms on every meter squared.

It is surprising that items that are designed to kill everything are attracting so much marine organisms, states Vedenin. You can see how nature adjusts after a catastrophic event such as the World War II and how, in some way, life finds its way to the most dangerous locations.

Man-made Features as Ocean Habitats

Artificial structures such as shipwrecks, offshore windfarms, drilling platforms and undersea pipes can provide alternatives, compensating for some of the destroyed marine environment. This research shows that weapons could be equally positive – the proliferation of marine organisms on those in the Bay of Lübeck is likely to be repeated in different areas.

Between the late 1940s and the post-war period, 1.6 million tons of munitions were dumped off the Germany's coast. Countless of workers placed them in boats; a portion were deposited in specific sites, others just thrown overboard en route. This is the first time researchers have recorded how ocean organisms has responded.

Worldwide Instances of Ocean Adaptation

• In the US, decommissioned drilling platforms have transformed into marine habitats
• Shipwrecks from the first world war have become homes for creatures along the Potomac River in the state of Maryland
• Military vehicle parts that have become home to reef-building organisms off Asan in Guam

These places become even more crucial for organisms as the seas are increasingly depleted by fishing, bottom trawling and boat mooring. Sunken ships and explosive disposal locations practically serve as protected areas – they are not official reserves, but virtually any kind of human activity is restricted, says Vedenin. As a result a numerous of organisms that are usually uncommon or decreasing, such as the cod fish, are flourishing.

Future Factors

Wherever warfare has taken place in the last century, surrounding seas are often littered with explosives, says Vedenin. Millions of tonnes of dangerous substances rest in our oceans.

The sites of these munitions are poorly mapped, in part because of international boundaries, restricted defense data and the situation that documents are stored in historical records. They present an explosion and safety risk, as well as risk from the persistent emission of hazardous substances.

As the German government and different states start removing these artifacts, scientists plan to safeguard the marine communities that have developed nearby. In the Bay of Lübeck explosives are already being removed.

Researchers recommend substitute these iron structures originating from munitions with some more secure, various safe materials, like maybe man-made habitats, suggests Vedenin.

He presently wishes that what transpires in the Bay of Lübeck establishes a precedent for substituting structures after weapon clearance in different areas – because even the most harmful armaments can become scaffolding for new life.