Nazi Explosives, Torpedoes and Mines: The Way Marine Life Thrives on Abandoned Armaments

In the slightly salty sea off the German coast rests a graveyard of Nazi bombs, torpedo heads and naval mines. Discarded from boats at the end of the World War II and forgotten about, countless weapons have fused into clusters over the years. They create a decaying layer on the low-depth, muddy ocean floor of the Lübeck Bay in the western tip of the Baltic Sea.

Over the decades, the explosive stockpile was overlooked and neglected. A increasing amount of visitors came to the sandy beaches and calm waters for water sports, kite surfing and amusement parks. Underwater, the weapons eroded.

We initially expected to see a barren area, with no organisms because it was all contaminated, states the lead researcher.

When the initial researchers went searching to see what they were doing to the marine environment, the team thought they would find a barren area, with nothing living there because it was all poisoned, explains Andrey Vedenin.

What they observed surprised them. Vedenin recounts his colleagues exclaiming in amazement when the ROV first transmitted footage. It was a remarkable experience, he says.

Numerous of marine animals had established habitats on the weapons, forming a revitalized ecosystem denser than the seabed nearby.

This marine city was proof to the tenacity of life. Truly remarkable how much life we find in areas that are supposed to be hazardous and dangerous, he says.

Over 40 sea stars had piled on to one exposed piece of explosive material. They were residing on iron containers, fuse pockets and storage boxes just a short distance from its dangerous content. Fish, crustaceans, anemones and bivalves were all discovered on the historic weapons. It resembles a coral reef in terms of the quantity of animal life that was inhabiting the area, notes Vedenin.

Unexpected Population Density

An mean of more than 40,000 organisms were dwelling on every square metre of the munitions, scientists documented in their study on the finding. The nearby seabed was much less diverse, with only 8,000 individuals on every square metre.

It is surprising that items that are meant to kill all life are drawing so much life, states Vedenin. It's evident how nature adjusts after a major disaster such as the World War II and how, in certain respects, life finds its way to the most dangerous areas.

Artificial Features as Ocean Habitats

Man-made constructions such as sunken vessels, offshore windfarms, oil rigs and pipelines can create alternatives, restoring some of the removed habitat. This investigation reveals that munitions could be equally advantageous – the proliferation of marine organisms on those in the Lübeck Bay is expected to be repeated in other locations.

Between 1946 and 1948, 1.6m tons of munitions were discarded off the Germany's shoreline. Countless of people placed them in vessels; some were placed in allocated areas, the remainder just thrown overboard while traveling. This is the initial instance scientists have documented how marine life has adapted.

Worldwide Instances of Marine Transformation

• In the United States, decommissioned oil and gas structures have transformed into coral reefs
• Sunken ships from the first world war have become habitats for wildlife along the Potomac in Maryland
• Tank tracks that have become habitat to coral off Asan beach in Guam

These areas become even more important for wildlife as the seas are increasingly depleted by commercial fishing, seafloor dredging and anchoring. Sunken ships and weapons dump sites practically function as refuges – they are not national parks, but virtually any kind of anthropogenic disturbance is banned, says Vedenin. Therefore a many of marine species that are usually scarce or declining, such as the cod fish, are flourishing.

Future Factors

Anywhere armed conflict has taken place in the recent history, surrounding seas are often littered with munitions, states Vedenin. Millions of tons of explosive material lie in our marine environments.

The locations of these explosives are insufficiently recorded, partly because of international boundaries, classified armed forces records and the situation that records are stored in old files. They present an explosion and security danger, as well as danger from the persistent leakage of poisonous compounds.

As the German government and other countries embark on removing these relics, scientists hope to protect the habitats that have developed nearby. In the Lübeck Bay explosives are presently being cleared.

Researchers recommend substitute these iron structures remaining from munitions with some safer, some harmless objects, like perhaps concrete structures, suggests Vedenin.

He presently wishes that what transpires in Lübeck creates a model for substituting structures after munitions removal in different areas – because also the most harmful weaponry can become scaffolding for ocean ecosystems.