🔗 Share this article Nazi Bombs, Torpedo Heads and Mines: The Way Ocean Creatures Thrives on Dumped Weapons In the slightly salty waters off the German shoreline lies a collection of Nazi bombs, torpedoes and mines. Dumped from boats at the conclusion of the World War II and forgotten about, thousands munitions have become matted together over the years. They create a decaying carpet on the shallow, silty ocean floor of the Lübeck Bay in the western part of the Baltic. Over the decades, the Nazi arsenal was ignored and forgotten about. A growing number of tourists flocked to the sandy beaches and tranquil sea for water sports, kiteboarding and amusement parks. Below the waves, the weapons decayed. We initially thought to see a lifeless zone, with no organisms because it was all contaminated, says the lead researcher. When the team went searching to see what they were affecting to the marine environment, some of us thought they would find a barren area, with nothing living there because it was all poisoned, states Andrey Vedenin. What they observed amazed them. Vedenin recounts his scientists exclaiming in amazement when the ROV first transmitted footage. It was a memorable occasion, he recalls. Thousands of sea creatures had settled among the munitions, developing a revitalized ecosystem more populous than the seabed surrounding it. This marine city was evidence to the tenacity of marine life. It is actually surprising how much marine organisms we observe in locations that are supposed to be dangerous and harmful, he explains. Over 40 sea stars had piled on to one visible piece of TNT. They were living on iron containers, detonator compartments and storage boxes just a short distance from its dangerous content. Marine fish, crustaceans, anemones and bivalves were all discovered on the old munitions. It's similar to a coral reef in terms of the abundance of creatures that was present, says Vedenin. Unexpected Creature Concentration An mean of more than 40,000 animals were dwelling on every meter squared of the munitions, researchers wrote in their paper on the finding. The adjacent region was much poorer in life, with only eight thousand individuals on every meter squared. It is ironic that items that are intended to kill everything are drawing so much life, explains Vedenin. One can observe how the natural world evolves after a devastating occurrence such as the World War II and how, in some way, marine life finds its way to the most risky places. Artificial Structures as Marine Environments Artificial constructions such as shipwrecks, wind turbines, oil rigs and undersea pipes can create replacements, compensating for some of the removed marine environment. This investigation demonstrates that explosives could be equally advantageous – the bloom of life on those in the Lübeck Bay is expected to be repeated elsewhere. Between the late 1940s and the post-war period, 1.6 million tons of munitions were discarded off the German shoreline. Thousands of people loaded them in barges; a portion were deposited in designated sites, others just discarded at sea en route. This is the first time scientists have studied how ocean organisms has reacted. Global Instances of Ocean Adaptation In the US, decommissioned drilling platforms have transformed into coral reefs Shipwrecks from the first world war have become environments for wildlife along the Potomac in Maryland Military vehicle parts that have become habitat to reef-building organisms off Asan in Guam These locations become even more crucial for organisms as the marine environments are increasingly depleted by fishing, bottom trawling and boat mooring. Sunken ships and munitions areas effectively function as protected areas – they are not national parks, but almost any kind of anthropogenic disturbance is prohibited, explains Vedenin. Therefore a lot of marine species that are usually scarce or diminishing, such as the Baltic cod, are flourishing. Future Issues Wherever military conflict has happened in the past 100 years, surrounding seas are usually strewn with explosives, states Vedenin. Many millions of tonnes of dangerous substances rest in our seas. The locations of these explosives are insufficiently mapped, in part because of national borders, classified military information and the situation that archives are hidden in old files. They create an detonation and security danger, as well as danger from the ongoing emission of hazardous substances. As Germany and different states embark on removing these remains, researchers plan to preserve the marine communities that have developed around them. In the Bay of Lübeck explosives are already being removed. Researchers recommend substitute these metal carcasses originating from weapons with certain safer, some safe structures, like possibly artificial reefs, suggests Vedenin. He now wishes that what transpires in Lübeck creates a precedent for substituting structures after munitions removal elsewhere – because also the most harmful armaments can become foundation for marine organisms.
In the slightly salty waters off the German shoreline lies a collection of Nazi bombs, torpedoes and mines. Dumped from boats at the conclusion of the World War II and forgotten about, thousands munitions have become matted together over the years. They create a decaying carpet on the shallow, silty ocean floor of the Lübeck Bay in the western part of the Baltic. Over the decades, the Nazi arsenal was ignored and forgotten about. A growing number of tourists flocked to the sandy beaches and tranquil sea for water sports, kiteboarding and amusement parks. Below the waves, the weapons decayed. We initially thought to see a lifeless zone, with no organisms because it was all contaminated, says the lead researcher. When the team went searching to see what they were affecting to the marine environment, some of us thought they would find a barren area, with nothing living there because it was all poisoned, states Andrey Vedenin. What they observed amazed them. Vedenin recounts his scientists exclaiming in amazement when the ROV first transmitted footage. It was a memorable occasion, he recalls. Thousands of sea creatures had settled among the munitions, developing a revitalized ecosystem more populous than the seabed surrounding it. This marine city was evidence to the tenacity of marine life. It is actually surprising how much marine organisms we observe in locations that are supposed to be dangerous and harmful, he explains. Over 40 sea stars had piled on to one visible piece of TNT. They were living on iron containers, detonator compartments and storage boxes just a short distance from its dangerous content. Marine fish, crustaceans, anemones and bivalves were all discovered on the old munitions. It's similar to a coral reef in terms of the abundance of creatures that was present, says Vedenin. Unexpected Creature Concentration An mean of more than 40,000 animals were dwelling on every meter squared of the munitions, researchers wrote in their paper on the finding. The adjacent region was much poorer in life, with only eight thousand individuals on every meter squared. It is ironic that items that are intended to kill everything are drawing so much life, explains Vedenin. One can observe how the natural world evolves after a devastating occurrence such as the World War II and how, in some way, marine life finds its way to the most risky places. Artificial Structures as Marine Environments Artificial constructions such as shipwrecks, wind turbines, oil rigs and undersea pipes can create replacements, compensating for some of the removed marine environment. This investigation demonstrates that explosives could be equally advantageous – the bloom of life on those in the Lübeck Bay is expected to be repeated elsewhere. Between the late 1940s and the post-war period, 1.6 million tons of munitions were discarded off the German shoreline. Thousands of people loaded them in barges; a portion were deposited in designated sites, others just discarded at sea en route. This is the first time scientists have studied how ocean organisms has reacted. Global Instances of Ocean Adaptation In the US, decommissioned drilling platforms have transformed into coral reefs Shipwrecks from the first world war have become environments for wildlife along the Potomac in Maryland Military vehicle parts that have become habitat to reef-building organisms off Asan in Guam These locations become even more crucial for organisms as the marine environments are increasingly depleted by fishing, bottom trawling and boat mooring. Sunken ships and munitions areas effectively function as protected areas – they are not national parks, but almost any kind of anthropogenic disturbance is prohibited, explains Vedenin. Therefore a lot of marine species that are usually scarce or diminishing, such as the Baltic cod, are flourishing. Future Issues Wherever military conflict has happened in the past 100 years, surrounding seas are usually strewn with explosives, states Vedenin. Many millions of tonnes of dangerous substances rest in our seas. The locations of these explosives are insufficiently mapped, in part because of national borders, classified military information and the situation that archives are hidden in old files. They create an detonation and security danger, as well as danger from the ongoing emission of hazardous substances. As Germany and different states embark on removing these remains, researchers plan to preserve the marine communities that have developed around them. In the Bay of Lübeck explosives are already being removed. Researchers recommend substitute these metal carcasses originating from weapons with certain safer, some safe structures, like possibly artificial reefs, suggests Vedenin. He now wishes that what transpires in Lübeck creates a precedent for substituting structures after munitions removal elsewhere – because also the most harmful armaments can become foundation for marine organisms.