Nazi Bombs, Torpedo Heads and Mines: The Way Ocean Creatures Prosper on Discarded Weapons
In the brackish waters off the German coast sits a graveyard of World War II explosives, torpedoes and mines. Dumped from boats at the end of the World War II and left behind, countless weapons have fused into clusters over the decades. They create a decaying carpet on the low-depth, silty ocean floor of the Bay of Lübeck in the western tip of the Baltic Sea.
Over the decades, the Nazi arsenal was ignored and neglected. A growing number of tourists flocked to the sandy beaches and calm waters for jetskiing, kiteboarding and amusement parks. Underwater, the weapons deteriorated.
Some of us expected to see a desert, with nothing living there because it was all poisoned, explains Andrey Vedenin.
When the initial researchers went investigating to see what they were doing to the marine environment, some of us anticipated finding a desert, with nothing living there because it was all contaminated, says Andrey Vedenin.
What they found astonished them. Vedenin recounts his colleagues reacting with shock when the submersible first relayed pictures. It was a memorable occasion, he says.
Countless of ocean life had made their homes on the munitions, forming a revitalized habitat richer than the ocean bottom around it.
This underwater metropolis was testament to the persistence of marine life. Indeed remarkable how much life we discover in areas that are supposed to be hazardous and dangerous, he states.
In excess of 40 starfish had gathered on to one visible chunk of TNT. They were residing on metal shells, fuse pockets and carrying containers just a short distance from its dangerous content. Marine fish, crabs, sea anemones and bivalves were all discovered on the discarded explosives. You could compare it with a reef ecosystem in terms of the quantity of animal life that was there, notes Vedenin.
Remarkable Population Density
An mean of more than 40,000 creatures were living on every meter squared of the weapons, scientists wrote in their study on the discovery. The surrounding area was much less diverse, with only eight thousand creatures on every meter squared.
It is paradoxical that things that are intended to eliminate all life are attracting so much marine organisms, says Vedenin. It's evident how nature adjusts after a catastrophic event such as the World War II and how, in some way, marine life finds its way to the most risky locations.
Man-made Structures as Marine Habitats
Man-made constructions such as sunken vessels, wind turbines, oil rigs and undersea pipes can provide substitutes, restoring some of the lost marine environment. This investigation shows that explosives could be similarly advantageous – the bloom of life on those in the Lübeck Bay is likely to be found in other locations.
Between 1946 and the post-war period, 1.6 million tonnes of munitions were dumped off the German coast. Numerous of people transported them in barges; a portion were placed in designated sites, others just discarded at sea en route. This is the first time experts have studied how ocean organisms has responded.
Global Examples of Marine Adaptation
- In the United States, decommissioned oil and gas structures have become coral reefs
- Sunken ships from the World War I have become environments for creatures along the Potomac River in Maryland
- Tank tracks that have become environment to coral off Asan in Guam
These areas become even more important for organisms as the marine environments are increasingly stripped by commercial fishing, bottom trawling and anchoring. Shipwrecks and munitions areas practically act as protected areas – they are not official reserves, but almost any kind of anthropogenic disturbance is restricted, explains Vedenin. Therefore a lot of marine species that are typically uncommon or diminishing, such as the Baltic cod, are flourishing.
Future Considerations
Wherever military conflict has taken place in the recent history, surrounding seas are typically strewn with munitions, says Vedenin. Millions of tons of volatile compounds lie in our marine environments.
The locations of these explosives are poorly recorded, in part because of international boundaries, restricted armed forces records and the fact that documents are hidden in historic archives. They present an detonation and security danger, as well as threat from the continuous leakage of toxic chemicals.
As the German government and other countries embark on extracting these relics, experts plan to protect the habitats that have developed nearby. In the Bay of Lübeck explosives are presently being extracted.
Researchers recommend substitute these steel remains remaining from weapons with certain less dangerous, some safe objects, like maybe artificial reefs, suggests Vedenin.
He now aspires that what happens in Lübeck creates a model for substituting material after munitions removal elsewhere – because also the most damaging armaments can become framework for marine organisms.