Nazi Munitions, Torpedo Heads and Naval Mines: How Ocean Creatures Thrives on Abandoned Weapons

In the brackish sea off the German coast sits a wasteland of Nazi bombs, torpedoes and naval mines. Dumped from boats at the end of the World War II and neglected, countless explosives have accumulated over the decades. They create a rusting blanket on the shallow, silty seafloor of the Bay of Lübeck in the western part of the Baltic.

Over the decades, the wartime weapons was ignored and forgotten about. A increasing amount of tourists traveled to the sandy beaches and tranquil sea for water sports, kiteboarding and amusement parks. Underwater, the munitions deteriorated.

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

When the initial researchers went investigating to see what they were affecting to the ecosystem, the team expected to see a lifeless zone, with no life because it was all contaminated, says Andrey Vedenin.

What they found surprised them. Vedenin recalls his scientists reacting with shock when the underwater vehicle first relayed pictures. This was a great moment, he says.

Thousands of ocean life had established habitats among the munitions, developing a regenerated ecosystem richer than the seabed around it.

This ocean community was evidence to the tenacity of life. It is actually remarkable how much marine organisms we observe in locations that are supposed to be toxic and dangerous, he explains.

In excess of 40 starfish had clustered on to one accessible piece of explosive material. They were residing on iron containers, fuse pockets and carrying containers just centimetres from its dangerous content. Fish, crustaceans, anemones and bivalves were all observed on the historic weapons. You could compare it with a coral reef in terms of the amount of animal life that was present, says Vedenin.

Unexpected Creature Concentration

An mean of more than 40,000 animals were dwelling on every square metre of the explosives, researchers wrote in their research on the finding. The adjacent region was much less diverse, with only eight thousand organisms on every square metre.

It is surprising that items that are designed to kill all life are hosting so much life, says Vedenin. One can observe how the natural world adjusts after a catastrophic event such as the World War II and how, in certain respects, life establishes itself to the most hazardous areas.

Artificial Structures as Marine Environments

Artificial constructions such as shipwrecks, offshore windfarms, drilling platforms and undersea pipes can provide replacements, compensating for some of the removed marine environment. This investigation reveals that munitions could be comparably beneficial – the bloom of life on those in the Bay of Lübeck is probable to be found elsewhere.

Between the late 1940s and the post-war period, 1.6m tonnes of munitions were dumped off the Germany's coast. Thousands of workers loaded them in vessels; some were dropped in designated locations, others just thrown overboard during transport. This is the initial instance scientists have recorded how marine life has responded.

Global Examples of Marine Transformation

• In the US, decommissioned drilling platforms have become reef ecosystems
• Shipwrecks from the World War I have become homes for marine life along the Potomac in the state of Maryland
• Military vehicle parts that have become environment to coral off Asan beach in Guam

These places become even more valuable for marine life as the seas are increasingly stripped by commercial fishing, bottom trawling and anchoring. Sunken ships and weapons dump sites essentially serve as refuges – they are not national parks, but virtually any kind of human activity is banned, states Vedenin. Therefore a lot of species that are typically uncommon or decreasing, such as the cod fish, are prospering.

Coming Considerations

Anywhere armed conflict has occurred in the past 100 years, adjacent waters are usually littered with explosives, states Vedenin. Millions of tons of dangerous substances remain in our marine environments.

The positions of these munitions are inadequately mapped, partly because of national borders, restricted military information and the reality that archives are stored in old files. They present an explosion and safety danger, as well as risk from the ongoing leakage of hazardous substances.

As the German government and other countries begin clearing these relics, scientists aim to preserve the habitats that have established around them. In the Lübeck Bay weapons are already being cleared.

Researchers recommend substitute these metal carcasses remaining from weapons with some less dangerous, various non-dangerous materials, like possibly concrete structures, says Vedenin.

He currently aspires that what happens in Lübeck sets a model for substituting material after munitions removal in different areas – because even the most harmful explosives can become framework for marine organisms.