Nazi Explosives, Torpedoes and Naval Mines: How Marine Life Thrives on Discarded Armaments

In the brackish waters off the German shoreline sits a collection of Nazi bombs, torpedoes and mines. Dumped from barges at the end of the second world war and left behind, thousands weapons have become matted together over the decades. They create a rusting blanket on the shallow, muddy seafloor of the Bay of Lübeck in the western part of the Baltic Sea.

Over the years, the Nazi arsenal was overlooked and neglected. A growing number of visitors came to the sandy beaches and tranquil sea for jetskiing, kiteboarding and amusement parks. Below the waves, the weapons decayed.

Researchers anticipated to see a barren area, with no life because it was all toxic, says a scientist.

When the team went searching to see what they were doing to the marine environment, researchers thought they would find a lifeless zone, with no organisms because it was all contaminated, explains a scientist.

What they observed amazed them. Vedenin remembers his scientists shouting with surprise when the ROV first relayed pictures. It was a great moment, he says.

Countless of sea creatures had settled among the weapons, developing a regenerated ecosystem richer than the ocean bottom around it.

This underwater metropolis was evidence to the tenacity of life. Truly astonishing how much marine organisms we observe in locations that are considered dangerous and risky, he explains.

More than 40 sea stars had gathered on to one visible chunk of explosive material. They were dwelling on metal shells, fuse pockets and storage boxes just centimetres from its dangerous content. Fish, crustaceans, anemones and mussels were all found on the discarded explosives. You could compare it with a marine reef in terms of the abundance of creatures that was present, states Vedenin.

Surprising Creature Concentration

An mean of more than 40,000 organisms were living on every meter squared of the munitions, scientists documented in their study on the observation. The adjacent region was much sparser, with only eight thousand creatures on every square metre.

It is paradoxical that objects that are meant to kill all life are drawing so much life, explains Vedenin. It's evident how nature adapts after a catastrophic event such as the World War II and how, in certain respects, marine life finds its way to the most dangerous locations.

Man-made Structures as Marine Habitats

Artificial features such as sunken vessels, wind turbines, drilling platforms and pipelines can provide replacements, restoring some of the destroyed marine environment. This investigation reveals that weapons could be equally positive – the explosion of marine organisms on those in the Bay of Lübeck is probable to be repeated in other locations.

Between 1946 and 1948, 1.6 million tons of weapons were disposed of off the German coast. Numerous of workers placed them in barges; a portion were placed in specific locations, the remainder just discarded at sea en route. This is the first time experts have studied how ocean organisms has responded.

Worldwide Examples of Ocean Adaptation

• In the US, decommissioned drilling platforms have become coral reefs
• Submerged vessels from the first world war have become habitats for creatures along the Potomac in the state of Maryland
• Military vehicle parts that have become environment to reef-building organisms off Asan beach in Guam

These places become even more valuable for wildlife as the seas are increasingly denuded by fishing, bottom trawling and boat mooring. Shipwrecks and munitions areas practically serve as refuges – they are not national parks, but almost any kind of anthropogenic disturbance is restricted, explains Vedenin. Therefore a lot of organisms that are otherwise rare or decreasing, such as the Baltic cod, are thriving.

Future Issues

Anywhere armed conflict has happened in the recent history, adjacent waters are typically containing weapons, says Vedenin. Millions of tonnes of volatile compounds rest in our oceans.

The locations of these explosives are inadequately mapped, partly because of national borders, restricted armed forces records and the reality that records are stored in old files. They create an detonation and security hazard, as well as danger from the persistent emission of poisonous compounds.

As the German government and other countries start removing these relics, researchers plan to preserve the habitats that have developed around them. In the Lübeck Bay weapons are already being removed.

Researchers recommend substitute these metal carcasses left from munitions with some less dangerous, some safe materials, like perhaps artificial reefs, states Vedenin.

He now aspires that what transpires in Lübeck sets a precedent for replacing habitats after munitions removal in different areas – because also the most harmful weaponry can become framework for marine organisms.