Nazi Explosives, Torpedoes and Mines: How Ocean Creatures Thrives on Abandoned Armaments

In the slightly salty waters off the German coast lies a collection of Nazi bombs, torpedoes and mines. Discarded from boats at the end of the second world war and neglected, numerous munitions have become matted together over the years. They form a decaying blanket on the shallow, silty ocean floor of the Bay of Lübeck in the western part of the Baltic Sea.

Over the decades, the wartime weapons was ignored and neglected. A increasing amount of visitors traveled to the sandy beaches and tranquil sea for water sports, kite surfing and amusement parks. Below the waves, the munitions eroded.

Some of us expected to see a desert, with no life because it was all contaminated, states Andrey Vedenin.

When the team went searching to see what they were affecting to the ecosystem, some of us anticipated finding a desert, with no life because it was all toxic, states the lead researcher.

What they found astonished them. Vedenin recalls his colleagues shouting with surprise when the submersible first transmitted footage. This was a memorable occasion, he says.

Thousands of marine animals had settled amid the munitions, creating a renewed habitat denser than the sea floor nearby.

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

Over 40 sea stars had clustered on to one visible fragment of TNT. They were living on metal shells, fuse pockets and carrying containers just a short distance from its volatile core. Fish, crabs, anemones and mussels were all found on the discarded explosives. It resembles a reef ecosystem in terms of the amount of creatures that was inhabiting the area, notes Vedenin.

Surprising Creature Concentration

An average of more than forty thousand organisms were dwelling on every meter squared of the weapons, experts reported in their study on the discovery. The adjacent region was much less diverse, with only eight thousand individuals on every square metre.

It is ironic that things that are designed to kill all life are drawing so much life, says Vedenin. It's evident how the natural world evolves after a catastrophic event such as the second world war and how, in certain respects, life establishes itself to the most hazardous areas.

Artificial Features as Ocean Environments

Man-made constructions such as sunken vessels, offshore windfarms, oil rigs and undersea pipes can create alternatives, restoring some of the lost habitat. This study shows that munitions could be comparably advantageous – the bloom of life on those in the Lübeck Bay is expected to be found elsewhere.

Between 1946 and 1948, 1.6 million tonnes of arms were discarded off the German shoreline. Countless of individuals transported them in barges; some were dropped in designated locations, the remainder just discarded at sea during transport. This is the first time researchers have recorded how ocean organisms has responded.

Global Examples of Marine Adaptation

• In the US, decommissioned drilling platforms have become marine habitats
• Shipwrecks from the first world war have become environments for marine life along the Potomac in the state of Maryland
• Military vehicle parts that have become home to coral off Asan in the Pacific island

These places become even more important for marine life as the marine environments are increasingly denuded by commercial fishing, seafloor dredging and boat mooring. Shipwrecks and munitions areas practically act as protected areas – they are not official reserves, but nearly any kind of anthropogenic disturbance is banned, states Vedenin. As a result a lot of species that are otherwise scarce or diminishing, such as the Baltic cod, are flourishing.

Coming Issues

Wherever armed conflict has happened in the recent history, adjacent waters are usually strewn with weapons, states Vedenin. Many millions of tonnes of dangerous substances remain in our seas.

The positions of these munitions are insufficiently recorded, partially because of international boundaries, restricted defense data and the situation that documents are buried in historic archives. They create an detonation and security danger, as well as danger from the continuous release of toxic chemicals.

As Germany and other countries embark on removing these remains, researchers plan to protect the marine communities that have developed in their vicinity. In the Bay of Lübeck munitions are presently being removed.

Researchers recommend substitute these iron structures left from weapons with some less dangerous, various safe objects, like maybe concrete structures, suggests Vedenin.

He now hopes that what transpires in Lübeck creates a model for replacing structures after weapon clearance in other locations – because including the most destructive armaments can become foundation for ocean ecosystems.