Nazi Explosives, Torpedo Heads and Mines: The Way Marine Life Flourishes on Dumped Armaments

In the slightly salty waters off the Germany's coast sits a wasteland of Nazi bombs, torpedo heads and naval mines. Discarded from vessels at the end of the World War II and forgotten about, countless munitions have fused into clusters over the decades. They comprise a rusting blanket on the shallow, silty ocean floor of the Bay of Lübeck in the western tip of the Baltic Sea.

Over the years, the explosive stockpile was ignored and forgotten about. A increasing amount of visitors traveled to the coastal areas and calm waters for water sports, kiteboarding and amusement parks. Beneath the surface, the munitions eroded.

Some of us anticipated to see a lifeless zone, with no organisms because it was all contaminated, explains the lead researcher.

When the first scientists went looking to see what they were affecting to the ecosystem, some of us anticipated finding a lifeless zone, with no organisms because it was all toxic, explains the lead researcher.

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

Thousands of sea creatures had made their homes on the weapons, forming a renewed marine community richer than the sea floor surrounding it.

This underwater metropolis was proof to the persistence of marine life. It is actually surprising how much marine organisms we observe in locations that are expected to be dangerous and risky, he states.

More than 40 sea stars had gathered on to one exposed chunk of explosive material. They were residing on metal shells, detonator compartments and storage boxes just centimetres from its explosive filling. Fish, crustaceans, sea anemones and bivalves were all observed on the old munitions. You could compare it with a coral reef in terms of the amount of fauna that was inhabiting the area, states Vedenin.

Unexpected Population Density

An average of more than 40,000 organisms were living on every meter squared of the explosives, experts documented in their paper on the observation. The surrounding area was much poorer in life, with only 8,000 organisms on every meter squared.

It is paradoxical that objects that are meant to destroy all life are hosting so much life, states Vedenin. You can see how nature adjusts after a major disaster such as the World War II and how, in certain respects, marine life returns to the most hazardous locations.

Man-made Structures as Marine Habitats

Artificial structures such as shipwrecks, offshore windfarms, drilling platforms and undersea pipes can provide substitutes, replacing some of the removed marine environment. This research shows that weapons could be equally beneficial – the bloom of life on those in the Bay of Lübeck is probable to be repeated elsewhere.

Between 1946 and the post-war period, 1.6m tons of arms were dumped off the German shoreline. Countless of people transported them in barges; some were placed in specific areas, others just discarded at sea while traveling. This is the initial instance researchers have recorded how ocean organisms has adapted.

Worldwide Instances of Ocean Adaptation

• In the US, decommissioned oil and gas structures have turned into reef ecosystems
• Shipwrecks from the World War I have become environments for creatures along the Potomac River in Maryland
• Tank tracks that have become habitat to coral off Asan in the Pacific island

These locations become even more valuable for organisms as the oceans are increasingly depleted by commercial fishing, seafloor dredging and boat mooring. Shipwrecks and explosive disposal locations essentially function as refuges – they are not official reserves, but nearly any kind of anthropogenic disturbance is restricted, states Vedenin. Therefore a many of marine species that are otherwise scarce or diminishing, such as the Baltic cod, are prospering.

Future Considerations

Wherever military conflict has happened in the last century, surrounding seas are typically strewn with explosives, says Vedenin. Many millions of tons of dangerous substances remain in our oceans.

The locations of these explosives are inadequately recorded, partially because of international boundaries, classified defense data and the situation that records are buried in historic archives. They pose an explosion and safety risk, as well as risk from the continuous leakage of toxic chemicals.

As Germany and different states start removing these artifacts, researchers hope to protect the marine communities that have developed nearby. In the Lübeck Bay munitions are already being extracted.

Researchers recommend replace these steel remains remaining from weapons with some safer, various safe objects, like possibly man-made habitats, says Vedenin.

He now hopes that what happens in the Bay of Lübeck sets a precedent for substituting habitats after explosive extraction in other locations – because including the most destructive armaments can become framework for ocean ecosystems.