Nazi Munitions, Torpedo Heads and Mines: The Way Marine Life Flourishes on Dumped Weapons

In the brackish waters off the German coast rests a graveyard of Nazi bombs, torpedoes and mines. Dumped from barges at the conclusion of the World War II and forgotten about, numerous munitions have accumulated over the years. They create a corroding blanket on the shallow, silty seafloor of the Lübeck Bay in the western part of the Baltic Sea.

Over the years, the Nazi arsenal was ignored and forgotten about. A growing number of visitors flocked to the coastal areas and calm waters for jetskiing, kite surfing and entertainment venues. Underwater, the munitions deteriorated.

Some of us thought to see a lifeless zone, with nothing living there because it was all contaminated, explains a scientist.

When the first scientists went searching to see what they were doing to the ecosystem, the team anticipated finding a barren area, with no organisms because it was all poisoned, explains the lead researcher.

What they observed amazed them. Vedenin recounts his team members exclaiming in amazement when the underwater vehicle first sent the images back. It was a great moment, he notes.

Countless of ocean life had established habitats among the munitions, creating a regenerated habitat more populous than the seabed nearby.

This underwater metropolis was testament to the resilience of life. Indeed astonishing how much marine organisms we discover in areas that are expected to be dangerous and harmful, he says.

In excess of 40 sea stars had gathered on to one visible chunk of explosive material. They were dwelling on steel casings, ignition chambers and carrying containers just centimetres from its explosive filling. Marine fish, crabs, anemones and bivalves were all found on the historic weapons. It's similar to a reef ecosystem in terms of the abundance of fauna that was inhabiting the area, states Vedenin.

Remarkable Creature Concentration

An mean of more than forty thousand organisms were living on every square metre of the munitions, experts reported in their paper on the observation. The surrounding area was much poorer in life, with only eight thousand organisms on every meter squared.

It is ironic that objects that are intended to kill everything are attracting so much marine organisms, says Vedenin. One can observe how the natural world adjusts after a major disaster such as the World War II and how, in certain respects, life finds its way to the most risky places.

Man-made Structures as Ocean Habitats

Man-made constructions such as shipwrecks, wind turbines, oil rigs and undersea pipes can provide substitutes, replacing some of the lost habitat. This study shows that explosives could be equally beneficial – the explosion of marine organisms on those in the Lübeck Bay is probable to be found in other locations.

Between 1946 and the post-war period, 1.6 million tonnes of weapons were disposed of off the German coast. Numerous of people placed them in barges; some were deposited in designated sites, the remainder just thrown overboard during transport. This is the initial instance experts have documented how ocean organisms has responded.

Global Instances of Marine Adaptation

• In the US, decommissioned oil and gas structures have transformed into reef ecosystems
• Shipwrecks from the first world war have become homes for marine life along the Potomac in Maryland
• Tank tracks that have become environment to reef-building organisms off Asan in Guam

These areas become even more valuable for wildlife as the marine environments are increasingly stripped by commercial fishing, seafloor dredging and anchoring. Shipwrecks and munitions areas effectively act as protected areas – they are not national parks, but virtually any kind of anthropogenic disturbance is banned, states Vedenin. Therefore a lot of species that are usually scarce or diminishing, such as the cod fish, are flourishing.

Coming Considerations

Anywhere warfare has happened in the past 100 years, nearby oceans are typically containing explosives, explains Vedenin. Millions of tonnes of volatile compounds rest in our oceans.

The sites of these munitions are insufficiently documented, partly because of sovereign limits, restricted military information and the reality that documents are buried in historical records. They create an explosion and safety danger, as well as risk from the continuous leakage of poisonous compounds.

As the German government and other countries start removing these artifacts, experts hope to safeguard the habitats that have established nearby. In the Bay of Lübeck explosives are currently being extracted.

It would be wise to substitute these metal carcasses originating from munitions with some less dangerous, various safe structures, like perhaps man-made habitats, suggests Vedenin.

He now hopes that what occurs in Lübeck creates a precedent for replacing structures after weapon clearance in other locations – because also the most harmful explosives can become scaffolding for new life.