Nazi Munitions, Torpedoes and Naval Mines: How Marine Life Prosper on Abandoned Armaments

In the slightly salty sea off the Germany's coast rests a graveyard of Nazi bombs, torpedo heads and mines. Thrown off barges at the end of the World War II and neglected, thousands explosives have fused into clusters over the decades. They form a rusting blanket on the low-depth, silty seafloor of the Lübeck Bay in the western part of the Baltic Sea.

Over the years, the explosive stockpile was ignored and forgotten about. A growing number of visitors came to the coastal areas and tranquil sea for water sports, kite surfing and entertainment venues. Underwater, the weapons deteriorated.

We initially anticipated to see a desert, with no life because it was all toxic, says the lead researcher.

When the initial researchers went looking to see what they were affecting to the ecosystem, researchers anticipated finding a barren area, with nothing living there because it was all contaminated, says a scientist.

What they observed amazed them. Vedenin recalls his scientists reacting with shock when the underwater vehicle first relayed pictures. This was a memorable occasion, he says.

Numerous of sea creatures had settled among the weapons, creating a renewed ecosystem richer than the ocean bottom around it.

This ocean community was testament to the resilience of life. It is actually surprising how much life we find in locations that are considered toxic and risky, he explains.

More than 40 sea stars had clustered on to one accessible chunk of explosive material. They were residing on steel casings, ignition chambers and carrying containers just a short distance from its explosive filling. Fish, crabs, anemones and mussels were all found on the discarded explosives. It resembles a coral reef in terms of the abundance of fauna that was present, says Vedenin.

Surprising Population Density

An average of more than forty thousand organisms were residing on every meter squared of the explosives, researchers reported in their research on the discovery. The adjacent region was much poorer in life, with only 8,000 individuals on every meter squared.

It is surprising that objects that are intended to destroy everything are hosting so much life, explains Vedenin. One can observe how the natural world evolves after a catastrophic event such as the second world war and how, in some way, marine life finds its way to the most dangerous areas.

Artificial Features as Marine Environments

Man-made constructions such as shipwrecks, wind turbines, drilling platforms and undersea pipes can create alternatives, restoring some of the removed habitat. This study demonstrates that munitions could be similarly positive – the bloom of marine organisms on those in the Lübeck Bay is probable to be found in different areas.

Between the late 1940s and 1948, 1.6m tonnes of weapons were discarded off the Germany's shoreline. Thousands of individuals loaded them in barges; some were placed in allocated areas, the remainder just dumped en route. This is the initial instance scientists have recorded how marine life has adapted.

Worldwide Examples of Ocean Transformation

• In the United States, decommissioned energy installations have become coral reefs
• Submerged vessels from the first world war have become environments for wildlife along the Potomac in Maryland
• Tank tracks that have become home to reef-building organisms off Asan in the Pacific island

These locations become even more crucial for organisms as the seas are increasingly denuded by commercial fishing, bottom trawling and boat mooring. Shipwrecks and weapons dump sites practically function as protected areas – they are not national parks, but almost any kind of anthropogenic disturbance is banned, says Vedenin. As a result a lot of marine species that are otherwise rare or diminishing, such as the cod fish, are flourishing.

Coming Issues

Anywhere military conflict has happened in the recent history, surrounding seas are typically strewn with explosives, states Vedenin. Millions of tons of volatile compounds rest in our oceans.

The positions of these explosives are inadequately recorded, partly because of sovereign limits, secret armed forces records and the situation that records are hidden in historical records. They create an detonation and safety hazard, as well as danger from the continuous leakage of poisonous compounds.

As Germany and different states start removing these remains, researchers hope to safeguard the marine communities that have formed nearby. In the Lübeck Bay explosives are presently being cleared.

We should substitute these metal carcasses originating from weapons with some less dangerous, various harmless objects, like possibly artificial reefs, suggests Vedenin.

He currently wishes that what transpires in Lübeck sets a example for replacing material after munitions removal in other locations – because also the most damaging weaponry can become foundation for marine organisms.