Nazi Explosives, Torpedo Heads and Naval Mines: The Way Ocean Creatures Thrives on Discarded Weapons

In the brackish waters off the German coast rests a wasteland of Nazi bombs, torpedoes and naval mines. Discarded from vessels at the end of the second world war and neglected, thousands explosives have fused into clusters over the years. They form a rusting layer on the low-depth, muddy ocean floor of the Lübeck Bay in the western part of the Baltic Sea.

Over the years, the Nazi arsenal was overlooked and neglected. A growing number of tourists traveled to the sandy beaches and tranquil sea for water sports, kiteboarding and amusement parks. Below the waves, the munitions deteriorated.

We initially anticipated to see a lifeless zone, with no organisms because it was all contaminated, states the lead researcher.

When the first scientists went investigating to see what they were doing to the ecosystem, some of us anticipated finding a barren area, with nothing living there because it was all poisoned, explains the lead researcher.

What they found surprised them. Vedenin remembers his scientists reacting with shock when the ROV first transmitted footage. That moment was a remarkable experience, he says.

Thousands of marine animals had made their homes among the weapons, developing a renewed ecosystem denser than the ocean bottom nearby.

This ocean community was testament to the persistence of life. Truly astonishing how much marine organisms we discover in locations that are expected to be dangerous and dangerous, he states.

In excess of 40 starfish had gathered on to one accessible fragment of explosive material. They were living on steel casings, ignition chambers and storage boxes just a short distance from its dangerous content. Marine fish, crustaceans, anemones and mussels were all observed on the historic weapons. You could compare it with a coral reef in terms of the amount of fauna that was there, states Vedenin.

Surprising Population Density

An mean of more than 40,000 animals were dwelling on every meter squared of the weapons, scientists reported in their research on the finding. The surrounding area was much less diverse, with only 8,000 organisms on every meter squared.

It is ironic that objects that are designed to kill everything are attracting so much life, states Vedenin. It's evident how nature adjusts after a devastating occurrence such as the World War II and how, in certain respects, life returns to the most risky places.

Man-made Structures as Ocean Environments

Artificial structures such as sunken vessels, wind turbines, oil rigs and undersea pipes can provide substitutes, restoring some of the destroyed marine environment. This study reveals that munitions could be comparably beneficial – the explosion of life on those in the Bay of Lübeck is likely to be found in different areas.

Between the late 1940s and the post-war period, 1.6m tons of weapons were dumped off the German shoreline. Thousands of workers placed them in boats; some were deposited in specific sites, the remainder just discarded at sea while traveling. This is the first time experts have studied how marine life has responded.

Worldwide Instances of Marine Transformation

• In the United States, retired energy installations have become coral reefs
• Shipwrecks from the World War I have become environments for wildlife along the Potomac River in Maryland
• Military vehicle parts that have become environment to reef-building organisms off Asan beach in Guam

These places become even more important for marine life as the marine environments are increasingly stripped by commercial fishing, bottom trawling and boat mooring. Shipwrecks and munitions areas practically act as sanctuaries – they are not national parks, but nearly any kind of human activity is banned, says Vedenin. Therefore a lot of marine species that are typically uncommon or declining, such as the cod fish, are flourishing.

Future Issues

Wherever armed conflict has occurred in the recent history, adjacent waters are usually containing munitions, explains Vedenin. Millions of tonnes of volatile compounds lie in our marine environments.

The positions of these explosives are insufficiently mapped, partially because of national borders, secret defense data and the situation that records are hidden in historic archives. They create an explosion and security hazard, as well as risk from the continuous release of toxic chemicals.

As the German government and other countries embark on removing these remains, researchers plan to protect the habitats that have established around them. In the Bay of Lübeck munitions are presently being removed.

Researchers recommend substitute these iron structures left from munitions with some safer, some non-dangerous materials, like perhaps concrete structures, suggests Vedenin.

He currently aspires that what transpires in the Bay of Lübeck sets a example for replacing structures after munitions removal in other locations – because even the most damaging explosives can become scaffolding for new life.