Nazi Explosives, Torpedo Heads and Mines: The Way Marine Life Prosper on Abandoned Armaments

In the slightly salty waters off the Germany's coast lies a graveyard of World War II explosives, torpedo heads and mines. Dumped from boats at the end of the World War II and forgotten about, numerous weapons have accumulated over the years. They form a corroding blanket on the low-depth, silty ocean floor of the Lübeck Bay in the western part of the Baltic Sea.

Over the years, the explosive stockpile was overlooked and forgotten about. A growing number of tourists flocked to the sandy beaches and calm waters for water sports, kite surfing and amusement parks. Below the waves, the weapons deteriorated.

Some of us expected to see a lifeless zone, with nothing living there because it was all contaminated, states Andrey Vedenin.

When the first scientists went looking to see what they were doing to the ecosystem, some of us expected to see a desert, with nothing living there because it was all toxic, states the lead researcher.

What they discovered amazed them. Vedenin recalls his scientists shouting with surprise when the underwater vehicle first sent the images back. This was a memorable occasion, he notes.

Countless of marine animals had established habitats amid the explosives, creating a regenerated marine community richer than the sea floor around it.

This ocean community was testament to the persistence of life. Indeed astonishing how much marine organisms we observe in places that are expected to be hazardous and dangerous, he says.

In excess of 40 sea stars had clustered on to one exposed fragment of explosive material. They were dwelling on steel casings, ignition chambers and transport cases just centimetres from its volatile core. Fish, crabs, anemones and bivalves were all observed on the historic weapons. It's similar to a marine reef in terms of the quantity of animal life that was present, says Vedenin.

Unexpected Creature Concentration

An mean of more than forty thousand animals were living on every meter squared of the explosives, scientists wrote in their study on the observation. The nearby seabed was much less diverse, with only eight thousand creatures on every meter squared.

It is paradoxical that things that are designed to eliminate all life are drawing so much marine organisms, explains Vedenin. You can see how the natural world adjusts after a catastrophic event such as the World War II and how, in certain respects, life finds its way to the most dangerous areas.

Man-made Structures as Marine Habitats

Man-made features such as shipwrecks, offshore windfarms, drilling platforms and pipelines can provide replacements, restoring some of the lost marine environment. This investigation reveals that weapons could be equally positive – the explosion of life on those in the Lübeck Bay is expected to be found in different areas.

Between the late 1940s and 1948, 1.6 million tons of arms were dumped off the Germany's shoreline. Numerous of workers loaded them in vessels; some were deposited in allocated sites, others just dumped during transport. This is the first time experts have documented how ocean organisms has responded.

Global Examples of Ocean Transformation

• In the United States, retired energy installations have transformed into coral reefs
• Shipwrecks from the first world war have become homes for creatures along the Potomac in Maryland
• Military vehicle parts that have become environment to coral off Asan in the Pacific island

These locations become even more valuable for wildlife as the seas are increasingly stripped by commercial fishing, seafloor dredging and anchoring. Shipwrecks and explosive disposal locations essentially act as protected areas – they are not official reserves, but virtually any kind of human activity is prohibited, says Vedenin. Therefore a numerous of species that are usually rare or diminishing, such as the cod fish, are thriving.

Future Considerations

Wherever warfare has taken place in the past 100 years, nearby oceans are typically containing munitions, says Vedenin. Many millions of tonnes of dangerous substances lie in our marine environments.

The positions of these explosives are insufficiently documented, in part because of national borders, secret military information and the reality that archives are stored in old files. They create an detonation and security hazard, as well as risk from the ongoing emission of hazardous substances.

As Germany and additional nations start extracting these artifacts, scientists aim to safeguard the ecosystems that have established nearby. In the Lübeck Bay weapons are currently being removed.

We should replace these steel remains originating from weapons with certain safer, some non-dangerous objects, like possibly concrete structures, says Vedenin.

He now hopes that what occurs in Lübeck creates a model for replacing structures after explosive extraction in different areas – because also the most destructive armaments can become scaffolding for new life.