Nazi Munitions, Torpedoes and Mines: How Ocean Creatures Prosper on Abandoned Armaments

In the brackish sea off the German shoreline sits a wasteland of Nazi bombs, torpedoes and mines. Discarded from boats at the end of the World War II and neglected, numerous weapons have accumulated over the years. They form a decaying blanket on the shallow, silty ocean floor of the Lübeck Bay in the western part of the Baltic.

Over the decades, the wartime weapons was ignored and forgotten about. A growing number of visitors flocked to the sandy beaches and calm waters for water sports, kiteboarding and entertainment venues. Underwater, the weapons decayed.

We initially thought to see a desert, with no organisms because it was all poisoned, says Andrey Vedenin.

When the first scientists went searching to see what they were affecting to the ecosystem, some of us thought they would find a lifeless zone, with no life because it was all contaminated, explains the lead researcher.

What they found astonished them. Vedenin recounts his colleagues shouting with surprise when the underwater vehicle first sent the images back. This was a memorable occasion, he notes.

Numerous of sea creatures had made their homes amid the munitions, forming a regenerated habitat richer than the sea floor nearby.

This underwater metropolis was testament to the persistence of marine life. It is actually remarkable how much life we discover in places that are expected to be toxic and risky, he states.

More than 40 sea stars had gathered on to one accessible chunk of TNT. They were living on steel casings, detonator compartments and transport cases just centimetres from its volatile core. Fish, crustaceans, anemones and bivalves were all found on the historic weapons. It resembles a marine reef in terms of the quantity of animal life that was there, states Vedenin.

Unexpected Population Density

An average of more than forty thousand creatures were living on every meter squared of the munitions, scientists reported in their paper on the finding. The adjacent region was much poorer in life, with only 8,000 individuals on every meter squared.

It is surprising that objects that are meant to eliminate all life are attracting so much life, says Vedenin. One can observe how the natural world evolves after a major disaster such as the second world war and how, in some way, life finds its way to the most dangerous areas.

Man-made Features as Marine Habitats

Man-made structures such as sunken vessels, wind turbines, oil rigs and pipelines can create substitutes, compensating for some of the removed habitat. This research reveals that munitions could be comparably advantageous – the explosion of life on those in the Bay of Lübeck is likely to be repeated elsewhere.

Between 1946 and 1948, 1.6 million tonnes of munitions were discarded off the Germany's shoreline. Countless of people transported them in vessels; a portion were deposited in specific areas, the remainder just thrown overboard while traveling. This is the first time researchers have recorded how ocean organisms has reacted.

Worldwide Instances of Ocean Adaptation

• In the United States, decommissioned drilling platforms have transformed into marine habitats
• Sunken ships from the World War I have become habitats for marine life along the Potomac in Maryland
• Tank tracks that have become environment to reef-building organisms off Asan in Guam

These locations become even more crucial for organisms as the marine environments are increasingly denuded by fishing, seafloor dredging and anchoring. Sunken ships and explosive disposal locations practically function as sanctuaries – they are not official reserves, but virtually any kind of anthropogenic disturbance is banned, states Vedenin. As a result a lot of species that are otherwise rare or diminishing, such as the Baltic cod, are prospering.

Future Considerations

Anywhere armed conflict has taken place in the last century, nearby oceans are usually littered with munitions, explains Vedenin. Millions of tons of explosive material remain in our seas.

The positions of these explosives are poorly mapped, partially because of international boundaries, classified defense data and the fact that documents are buried in historical records. They pose an detonation and safety risk, as well as risk from the continuous leakage of hazardous substances.

As Germany and different states embark on extracting these remains, researchers plan to safeguard the marine communities that have established nearby. In the Bay of Lübeck explosives are presently being extracted.

It would be wise to replace these iron structures remaining from weapons with some safer, some safe materials, like possibly artificial reefs, states Vedenin.

He now wishes that what transpires in Lübeck creates a model for replacing material after weapon clearance in other locations – because including the most harmful weaponry can become foundation for new life.