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

In the brackish waters off the German coast lies a wasteland of Nazi bombs, torpedo heads and mines. Thrown off barges at the end of the World War II and forgotten about, numerous munitions have accumulated over the decades. They comprise a decaying layer on the shallow, muddy seafloor of the Bay of Lübeck in the western part of the Baltic.

Over the decades, the Nazi arsenal was overlooked and neglected. A increasing amount of visitors flocked to the coastal areas and tranquil sea for jetskiing, kite surfing and entertainment venues. Below the waves, the weapons decayed.

Researchers expected to see a desert, with no life because it was all poisoned, says a scientist.

When the first scientists went investigating to see what they were affecting to the ecosystem, some of us expected to see a desert, with nothing living there because it was all poisoned, explains a scientist.

What they found astonished them. Vedenin remembers his scientists reacting with shock when the submersible first transmitted footage. This was a memorable occasion, he recalls.

Thousands of sea creatures had established habitats among the munitions, developing a regenerated marine community more populous than the seabed nearby.

This marine city was testament to the resilience of life. Indeed surprising how much marine organisms we discover in locations that are considered dangerous and harmful, he says.

More than 40 sea stars had clustered on to one exposed piece of explosive material. They were dwelling on steel casings, detonator compartments and storage boxes just a short distance from its dangerous content. Marine fish, crabs, anemones and bivalves were all found on the old munitions. It resembles a coral reef in terms of the amount of animal life that was there, notes Vedenin.

Remarkable Population Density

An average of more than forty thousand animals were living on every square metre of the weapons, researchers documented in their research on the finding. The adjacent region was much poorer in life, with only eight thousand creatures on every square metre.

It is ironic that things that are designed to kill everything are attracting so much life, explains Vedenin. One can observe how nature evolves after a catastrophic event such as the second world war and how, in certain respects, marine life finds its way to the most risky locations.

Artificial Features as Marine Environments

Man-made constructions such as shipwrecks, offshore windfarms, drilling platforms and undersea pipes can offer alternatives, replacing some of the destroyed habitat. This research shows that munitions could be equally beneficial – the proliferation of marine organisms on those in the Bay of Lübeck is likely to be duplicated in different areas.

Between 1946 and the post-war period, 1.6 million tons of munitions were dumped off the German shoreline. Countless of workers transported them in barges; a portion were deposited in designated areas, others just dumped en route. This is the first time researchers have documented how marine life has reacted.

Global Instances of Ocean Adaptation

• In the US, retired drilling platforms have turned into coral reefs
• Sunken ships from the World War I have become habitats for wildlife along the Potomac River in Maryland
• Military vehicle parts that have become environment to coral off Asan beach in the Pacific island

These places become even more important for wildlife as the seas are increasingly denuded by fishing, bottom trawling and anchoring. Sunken ships and weapons dump sites practically function as refuges – they are not official reserves, but virtually any kind of anthropogenic disturbance is restricted, explains Vedenin. Consequently a lot of marine species that are typically scarce or diminishing, such as the cod fish, are prospering.

Coming Issues

Wherever armed conflict has happened in the recent history, surrounding seas are typically littered with munitions, states Vedenin. Many millions of tons of volatile compounds rest in our seas.

The positions of these weapons are insufficiently documented, partly because of national borders, classified defense data and the reality that archives are buried in historic archives. They pose an detonation and safety danger, as well as threat from the ongoing emission of hazardous substances.

As the German government and additional nations embark on clearing these relics, scientists hope to preserve the habitats that have developed in their vicinity. In the Lübeck Bay explosives are already being cleared.

Researchers recommend substitute these iron structures remaining from munitions with certain safer, some harmless structures, like possibly man-made habitats, states Vedenin.

He currently aspires that what occurs in Lübeck establishes a model for substituting habitats after munitions removal in other locations – because even the most harmful armaments can become scaffolding for ocean ecosystems.