🔗 Share this article Nazi Explosives, Torpedoes and Mines: The Way Ocean Creatures Prosper on Abandoned Weapons In the brackish waters off the Germany's coast rests a wasteland of World War II explosives, torpedoes and naval mines. Discarded from barges at the end of the World War II and forgotten about, numerous weapons have become matted together over the decades. They create a rusting layer on the low-depth, silty seafloor of the Bay of Lübeck in the western tip of the Baltic Sea. Over the years, the explosive stockpile was ignored and neglected. A growing number of tourists traveled to the sandy beaches and tranquil sea for water sports, kiteboarding and amusement parks. Underwater, the munitions deteriorated. We initially anticipated to see a desert, with no life because it was all contaminated, explains a scientist. When the initial researchers went investigating to see what they were affecting to the marine environment, the team thought they would find a desert, with no organisms because it was all poisoned, explains a scientist. What they found amazed them. Vedenin recalls his colleagues exclaiming in amazement when the submersible first transmitted footage. This was a remarkable experience, he says. Thousands of sea creatures had established habitats on the weapons, developing a renewed ecosystem richer than the seabed surrounding it. This marine city was evidence to the resilience of life. Truly astonishing how much life we discover in places that are expected to be dangerous and risky, he says. Over 40 starfish had piled on to one visible chunk of TNT. They were residing on steel casings, ignition chambers and storage boxes just a short distance from its dangerous content. Marine fish, crabs, anemones and bivalves were all found on the historic weapons. It resembles a coral reef in terms of the abundance of animal life that was there, states Vedenin. Remarkable Creature Concentration An average of more than forty thousand animals were living on every meter squared of the explosives, researchers wrote in their paper on the discovery. The surrounding area was much poorer in life, with only eight thousand creatures on every square metre. It is paradoxical that objects that are meant to destroy all life are attracting so much life, explains Vedenin. One can observe how nature evolves after a catastrophic event such as the World War II and how, in some way, life finds its way to the most dangerous areas. Man-made Features as Marine Environments Man-made constructions such as sunken vessels, offshore windfarms, oil rigs and pipelines can offer replacements, replacing some of the removed marine environment. This investigation shows that munitions could be comparably positive – the bloom of marine organisms on those in the Bay of Lübeck is expected to be found in other locations. Between 1946 and 1948, 1.6 million tonnes of munitions were dumped off the German coast. Thousands of workers transported them in barges; some were deposited in specific locations, others just thrown overboard en route. This is the first time researchers have studied how marine life has adapted. Global Instances of Marine Adaptation In the United States, decommissioned drilling platforms have transformed into marine habitats Sunken ships from the first world war have become habitats for wildlife along the Potomac River in Maryland Tank tracks that have become habitat to coral off Asan in the Pacific island These places become even more valuable for wildlife as the seas are increasingly denuded by fishing, bottom trawling and boat mooring. Shipwrecks and munitions areas essentially act as refuges – they are not national parks, but virtually any kind of human activity is banned, says Vedenin. Consequently a lot of marine species that are typically uncommon or declining, such as the cod fish, are thriving. Coming Factors Anywhere warfare has occurred in the past 100 years, adjacent waters are usually littered with explosives, states Vedenin. Millions of tonnes of dangerous substances lie in our oceans. The sites of these weapons are insufficiently mapped, partly because of international boundaries, classified defense data and the reality that documents are stored in old files. They pose an explosion and security hazard, as well as threat from the continuous emission of hazardous substances. As the German government and additional nations begin removing these artifacts, scientists aim to preserve the ecosystems that have formed in their vicinity. In the Lübeck Bay explosives are already being cleared. It would be wise to substitute these iron structures remaining from weapons with some safer, some harmless structures, like maybe man-made habitats, states Vedenin. He currently hopes that what occurs in the Bay of Lübeck creates a model for replacing structures after munitions removal elsewhere – because also the most destructive weaponry can become foundation for marine organisms.
In the brackish waters off the Germany's coast rests a wasteland of World War II explosives, torpedoes and naval mines. Discarded from barges at the end of the World War II and forgotten about, numerous weapons have become matted together over the decades. They create a rusting layer on the low-depth, silty seafloor of the Bay of Lübeck in the western tip of the Baltic Sea. Over the years, the explosive stockpile was ignored and neglected. A growing number of tourists traveled to the sandy beaches and tranquil sea for water sports, kiteboarding and amusement parks. Underwater, the munitions deteriorated. We initially anticipated to see a desert, with no life because it was all contaminated, explains a scientist. When the initial researchers went investigating to see what they were affecting to the marine environment, the team thought they would find a desert, with no organisms because it was all poisoned, explains a scientist. What they found amazed them. Vedenin recalls his colleagues exclaiming in amazement when the submersible first transmitted footage. This was a remarkable experience, he says. Thousands of sea creatures had established habitats on the weapons, developing a renewed ecosystem richer than the seabed surrounding it. This marine city was evidence to the resilience of life. Truly astonishing how much life we discover in places that are expected to be dangerous and risky, he says. Over 40 starfish had piled on to one visible chunk of TNT. They were residing on steel casings, ignition chambers and storage boxes just a short distance from its dangerous content. Marine fish, crabs, anemones and bivalves were all found on the historic weapons. It resembles a coral reef in terms of the abundance of animal life that was there, states Vedenin. Remarkable Creature Concentration An average of more than forty thousand animals were living on every meter squared of the explosives, researchers wrote in their paper on the discovery. The surrounding area was much poorer in life, with only eight thousand creatures on every square metre. It is paradoxical that objects that are meant to destroy all life are attracting so much life, explains Vedenin. One can observe how nature evolves after a catastrophic event such as the World War II and how, in some way, life finds its way to the most dangerous areas. Man-made Features as Marine Environments Man-made constructions such as sunken vessels, offshore windfarms, oil rigs and pipelines can offer replacements, replacing some of the removed marine environment. This investigation shows that munitions could be comparably positive – the bloom of marine organisms on those in the Bay of Lübeck is expected to be found in other locations. Between 1946 and 1948, 1.6 million tonnes of munitions were dumped off the German coast. Thousands of workers transported them in barges; some were deposited in specific locations, others just thrown overboard en route. This is the first time researchers have studied how marine life has adapted. Global Instances of Marine Adaptation In the United States, decommissioned drilling platforms have transformed into marine habitats Sunken ships from the first world war have become habitats for wildlife along the Potomac River in Maryland Tank tracks that have become habitat to coral off Asan in the Pacific island These places become even more valuable for wildlife as the seas are increasingly denuded by fishing, bottom trawling and boat mooring. Shipwrecks and munitions areas essentially act as refuges – they are not national parks, but virtually any kind of human activity is banned, says Vedenin. Consequently a lot of marine species that are typically uncommon or declining, such as the cod fish, are thriving. Coming Factors Anywhere warfare has occurred in the past 100 years, adjacent waters are usually littered with explosives, states Vedenin. Millions of tonnes of dangerous substances lie in our oceans. The sites of these weapons are insufficiently mapped, partly because of international boundaries, classified defense data and the reality that documents are stored in old files. They pose an explosion and security hazard, as well as threat from the continuous emission of hazardous substances. As the German government and additional nations begin removing these artifacts, scientists aim to preserve the ecosystems that have formed in their vicinity. In the Lübeck Bay explosives are already being cleared. It would be wise to substitute these iron structures remaining from weapons with some safer, some harmless structures, like maybe man-made habitats, states Vedenin. He currently hopes that what occurs in the Bay of Lübeck creates a model for replacing structures after munitions removal elsewhere – because also the most destructive weaponry can become foundation for marine organisms.