Nazi Explosives, Torpedo Heads and Mines: How Ocean Creatures Flourishes on Abandoned Weapons

In the slightly salty sea off the German shoreline lies a graveyard of Nazi bombs, torpedo heads and mines. Discarded from vessels at the end of the World War II and neglected, numerous weapons have accumulated over the decades. They create a decaying blanket on the low-depth, silty ocean floor of the Bay of Lübeck in the western tip of the Baltic.

Over the years, the explosive stockpile was overlooked and neglected. A growing number of tourists traveled to the coastal areas and tranquil sea for water sports, kiteboarding and amusement parks. Beneath the surface, the weapons eroded.

Researchers expected to see a lifeless zone, with no life because it was all poisoned, says the lead researcher.

When the first scientists went searching to see what they were doing to the marine environment, some of us thought they would find a lifeless zone, with nothing living there because it was all contaminated, explains a scientist.

What they found surprised them. Vedenin recalls his scientists shouting with surprise when the ROV first relayed pictures. That moment was a great moment, he notes.

Numerous of marine animals had established habitats amid the munitions, forming a regenerated marine community richer than the seabed around it.

This marine city was proof to the persistence of life. It is actually astonishing how much marine organisms we find in locations that are expected to be hazardous and risky, he explains.

In excess of 40 starfish had piled on to one exposed piece of explosive material. They were dwelling on metal shells, ignition chambers and transport cases just a short distance from its dangerous content. Fish, crustaceans, sea anemones and bivalves were all found on the discarded explosives. It resembles a marine reef in terms of the abundance of animal life that was there, notes Vedenin.

Unexpected Creature Concentration

An mean of more than forty thousand animals were dwelling on every square metre of the munitions, scientists wrote in their paper on the finding. The adjacent region was much less diverse, with only eight thousand individuals on every square metre.

It is paradoxical that objects that are designed to eliminate everything are drawing so much marine organisms, states Vedenin. One can observe how the natural world adjusts after a devastating occurrence such as the second world war and how, in some way, marine life returns to the most risky locations.

Artificial Structures as Ocean Environments

Man-made features such as shipwrecks, wind turbines, oil rigs and undersea pipes can provide alternatives, compensating for some of the lost marine environment. This study demonstrates that munitions could be similarly positive – the proliferation of marine organisms on those in the Bay of Lübeck is likely to be found in other locations.

Between 1946 and the post-war period, 1.6m tonnes of munitions were disposed of off the German coast. Countless of people loaded them in boats; some were placed in specific areas, the remainder just discarded at sea while traveling. This is the first time experts have recorded how marine life has responded.

Global Instances of Marine Adaptation

• In the US, decommissioned drilling platforms have turned into marine habitats
• Submerged vessels from the World War I have become habitats for creatures along the Potomac River in Maryland
• Military vehicle parts that have become environment to reef-building organisms off Asan beach in the Pacific island

These locations become even more important for organisms as the marine environments are increasingly depleted by fishing, bottom trawling and anchoring. Shipwrecks and munitions areas effectively function as sanctuaries – they are not national parks, but almost any kind of human activity is restricted, says Vedenin. Consequently a numerous of organisms that are typically uncommon or declining, such as the Baltic cod, are flourishing.

Coming Considerations

Wherever military conflict has occurred in the past 100 years, surrounding seas are usually littered with weapons, says Vedenin. Many millions of tonnes of dangerous substances remain in our seas.

The locations of these munitions are poorly mapped, partly because of international boundaries, secret defense data and the situation that records are hidden in old files. They create an detonation and security risk, as well as risk from the persistent release of toxic chemicals.

As Germany and additional nations embark on clearing these artifacts, researchers aim to protect the habitats that have established around them. In the Bay of Lübeck munitions are presently being cleared.

It would be wise to substitute these steel remains left from weapons with certain less dangerous, some harmless materials, like possibly concrete structures, suggests Vedenin.

He currently aspires that what happens in the Bay of Lübeck sets a precedent for substituting material after explosive extraction in different areas – because even the most harmful armaments can become scaffolding for new life.