Nazi Bombs, Torpedo Heads and Mines: How Marine Life Thrives on Discarded Armaments

In the brackish waters off the Germany's coast rests a collection of Nazi bombs, torpedoes and mines. Dumped from boats at the end of the World War II and left behind, thousands weapons have become matted together over the years. They form a rusting carpet on the shallow, muddy seafloor of the Bay of Lübeck in the western part of the Baltic.

Over the decades, 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. Below the waves, the munitions deteriorated.

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

When the first scientists went searching to see what they were affecting to the marine environment, the team expected to see a lifeless zone, with nothing living there because it was all toxic, says a scientist.

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

Countless of sea creatures had made their homes amid the weapons, developing a renewed habitat denser than the sea floor surrounding it.

This marine city was evidence to the tenacity of marine life. Truly astonishing how much marine organisms we observe in places that are considered toxic and harmful, he explains.

Over 40 sea stars had piled on to one exposed piece of TNT. They were dwelling on steel casings, fuse pockets and transport cases just a short distance from its dangerous content. Fish, crustaceans, anemones and mussels were all found on the old munitions. It's similar to a coral reef in terms of the amount of animal life that was present, notes Vedenin.

Remarkable Creature Concentration

An mean of more than 40,000 animals were dwelling on every square metre of the munitions, scientists reported in their paper on the observation. The nearby seabed was much sparser, with only eight thousand organisms on every meter squared.

It is surprising that objects that are meant to destroy all life are drawing so much marine organisms, says Vedenin. It's evident how nature adapts after a devastating occurrence such as the second world war and how, in some way, marine life returns to the most hazardous places.

Man-made Features as Marine Environments

Artificial constructions such as sunken vessels, wind turbines, oil rigs and pipelines can create replacements, compensating for some of the destroyed habitat. This investigation demonstrates that munitions could be comparably positive – the proliferation of marine organisms on those in the Lübeck Bay is probable to be found elsewhere.

Between 1946 and 1948, 1.6 million tonnes of weapons were discarded off the Germany's shoreline. Thousands of people transported them in vessels; a portion were deposited in allocated locations, others just thrown overboard during transport. This is the initial instance experts have documented how ocean organisms has adapted.

Worldwide Examples of Ocean Transformation

• In the United States, retired drilling platforms have transformed into coral reefs
• Sunken ships from the first world war have become homes for wildlife along the Potomac in the state of Maryland
• Military vehicle parts that have become environment to coral off Asan beach in the Pacific island

These areas become even more valuable for marine life as the marine environments are increasingly denuded by fishing, seafloor dredging and anchoring. Shipwrecks and weapons dump sites essentially function as protected areas – they are not national parks, but nearly any kind of anthropogenic disturbance is restricted, states Vedenin. Consequently a numerous of marine species that are otherwise rare or declining, such as the Baltic cod, are prospering.

Coming Factors

Anywhere military conflict has taken place in the recent history, nearby oceans are often strewn with weapons, explains Vedenin. Many millions of tons of dangerous substances lie in our seas.

The positions of these explosives are poorly documented, in part because of sovereign limits, secret military information and the fact that archives are stored in old files. They present an explosion and security hazard, as well as threat from the ongoing emission of hazardous substances.

As Germany and different states start removing these remains, researchers plan to protect the ecosystems that have formed in their vicinity. In the Bay of Lübeck weapons are currently being removed.

We should replace these iron structures left from munitions with certain safer, various harmless structures, like possibly man-made habitats, suggests Vedenin.

He currently hopes that what transpires in Lübeck establishes a model for replacing structures after munitions removal in other locations – because also the most damaging weaponry can become foundation for new life.