Nazi Munitions, Torpedo Heads and Naval Mines: The Way Ocean Creatures Flourishes on Dumped Armaments

In the slightly salty sea off the German shoreline lies a collection of Nazi bombs, torpedoes and naval mines. Discarded from vessels at the end of the World War II and left behind, thousands weapons have accumulated over the years. They form a decaying blanket on the shallow, silty seafloor of the Bay of Lübeck in the western part of the Baltic Sea.

Over the years, the explosive stockpile was overlooked and forgotten about. A growing number of tourists traveled to the sandy beaches and calm waters for jetskiing, kiteboarding and entertainment venues. Beneath the surface, the munitions decayed.

Researchers thought to see a desert, with no life because it was all contaminated, states Andrey Vedenin.

When the team went looking to see what they were doing to the ecosystem, some of us anticipated finding a desert, with no organisms because it was all toxic, explains the lead researcher.

What they found amazed them. Vedenin recounts his team members reacting with shock when the underwater vehicle first relayed pictures. This was a remarkable experience, he recalls.

Thousands of ocean life had settled among the explosives, developing a renewed habitat richer than the ocean bottom around it.

This ocean community was testament to the persistence of life. Indeed surprising how much life we discover in locations that are supposed to be hazardous and risky, he says.

Over 40 sea stars had gathered on to one accessible piece of explosive material. They were dwelling on iron containers, ignition chambers and transport cases just a short distance from its explosive filling. Marine fish, crabs, sea anemones and mussels were all discovered on the discarded explosives. You could compare it with a coral reef in terms of the abundance of creatures that was there, says Vedenin.

Unexpected Population Density

An mean of more than forty thousand creatures were dwelling on every meter squared of the weapons, experts documented in their study on the finding. The adjacent region was much less diverse, with only eight thousand creatures on every meter squared.

It is ironic that objects that are meant to destroy everything are hosting so much life, explains Vedenin. It's evident how the natural world evolves after a major disaster such as the World War II and how, in some way, marine life returns to the most dangerous locations.

Man-made Structures as Marine Habitats

Artificial constructions such as shipwrecks, offshore windfarms, drilling platforms and pipelines can create substitutes, compensating for some of the removed marine environment. This investigation reveals that weapons could be equally advantageous – the bloom of life on those in the Lübeck Bay is expected to be found in different areas.

Between 1946 and the post-war period, 1.6m tonnes of arms were disposed of off the Germany's shoreline. Numerous of workers transported them in barges; a portion were placed in specific locations, others just discarded at sea en route. This is the first time researchers have documented how ocean organisms has adapted.

Worldwide Instances of Marine Adaptation

• In the US, decommissioned energy installations have become coral reefs
• Submerged vessels from the first world war have become environments for wildlife along the Potomac River in Maryland
• Military vehicle parts that have become environment to coral off Asan beach in the Pacific island

These places become even more important for marine life as the marine environments are increasingly stripped by fishing, seafloor dredging and anchoring. Sunken ships and munitions areas essentially function as protected areas – they are not national parks, but almost any kind of anthropogenic disturbance is prohibited, explains Vedenin. As a result a many of organisms that are otherwise uncommon or declining, such as the Baltic cod, are prospering.

Coming Factors

Wherever military conflict has occurred in the last century, surrounding seas are usually strewn with munitions, says Vedenin. Millions of tonnes of explosive material lie in our seas.

The locations of these munitions are insufficiently recorded, in part because of sovereign limits, classified armed forces records and the situation that archives are buried in historic archives. They create an detonation and safety danger, as well as threat from the persistent release of hazardous substances.

As the German government and additional nations embark on clearing these artifacts, experts aim to safeguard the marine communities that have developed around them. In the Lübeck Bay explosives are already being cleared.

Researchers recommend substitute these metal carcasses left from weapons with certain safer, various harmless objects, like perhaps artificial reefs, states Vedenin.

He currently wishes that what happens in the Bay of Lübeck creates a precedent for replacing material after explosive extraction in other locations – because also the most destructive armaments can become scaffolding for new life.