Nazi Munitions, Torpedoes and Naval Mines: How Ocean Creatures Prosper on Discarded Armaments

In the brackish sea off the German shoreline rests a graveyard of Nazi bombs, torpedoes and mines. Thrown off boats at the conclusion of the World War II and left behind, countless munitions have fused into clusters over the decades. They form a corroding carpet on the shallow, silty seafloor of the Lübeck Bay in the western part of the Baltic.

Over the decades, the explosive stockpile was overlooked and neglected. A increasing amount of visitors traveled to the sandy beaches and calm waters for jetskiing, kite surfing and amusement parks. Beneath the surface, the weapons eroded.

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

When the first scientists went searching to see what they were doing to the ecosystem, researchers expected to see a desert, with no life because it was all contaminated, explains Andrey Vedenin.

What they observed astonished them. Vedenin remembers his scientists reacting with shock when the submersible first relayed pictures. It was a remarkable experience, he says.

Numerous of sea creatures had established habitats on the weapons, developing a renewed habitat denser than the sea floor nearby.

This underwater metropolis was testament to the persistence of life. Indeed remarkable how much marine organisms we find in locations that are supposed to be hazardous and dangerous, he explains.

In excess of 40 starfish had clustered on to one accessible fragment of TNT. They were living on iron containers, fuse pockets and transport cases just a short distance from its explosive filling. Marine fish, crabs, sea anemones and mussels were all observed on the old munitions. It's similar to a marine reef in terms of the amount of animal life that was there, notes Vedenin.

Remarkable Creature Concentration

An mean of more than 40,000 organisms were dwelling on every meter squared of the explosives, experts documented in their study on the observation. The adjacent region was much poorer in life, with only 8,000 organisms on every square metre.

It is ironic that items that are meant to eliminate everything are attracting so much marine organisms, explains Vedenin. It's evident how the natural world adjusts after a major disaster such as the second world war and how, in certain respects, life establishes itself to the most risky areas.

Artificial Structures as Marine Environments

Artificial structures such as shipwrecks, wind turbines, drilling platforms and pipelines can create substitutes, compensating for some of the lost marine environment. This research reveals that munitions could be similarly positive – the explosion of marine organisms on those in the Bay of Lübeck is expected to be duplicated in different areas.

Between the late 1940s and the post-war period, 1.6m tons of weapons were dumped off the Germany's coast. Countless of people transported them in vessels; some were dropped in specific areas, the remainder just thrown overboard while traveling. This is the first time scientists have documented how marine life has responded.

Global Examples of Ocean Adaptation

• In the United States, retired drilling platforms have become coral reefs
• Submerged vessels from the World War I have become habitats for creatures along the Potomac River in the state of Maryland
• Military vehicle parts that have become habitat to coral off Asan in Guam

These areas become even more important for organisms as the marine environments are increasingly depleted by commercial fishing, bottom trawling and anchoring. Sunken ships and munitions areas effectively serve as protected areas – they are not official reserves, but virtually any kind of anthropogenic disturbance is restricted, says Vedenin. Therefore a numerous of species that are usually uncommon or decreasing, such as the cod fish, are thriving.

Coming Considerations

Wherever armed conflict has occurred in the last century, adjacent waters are often strewn with explosives, explains Vedenin. Millions of tonnes of volatile compounds remain in our seas.

The positions of these weapons are poorly documented, partly because of sovereign limits, secret armed forces records and the reality that records are stored in old files. They create an explosion and safety risk, as well as danger from the continuous leakage of hazardous substances.

As Germany and other countries begin clearing these remains, experts plan to protect the habitats that have developed nearby. In the Lübeck Bay explosives are presently being cleared.

We should substitute these steel remains remaining from munitions with some safer, some non-dangerous structures, like maybe artificial reefs, suggests Vedenin.

He currently aspires that what happens in Lübeck creates a example for replacing habitats after munitions removal in other locations – because also the most damaging armaments can become scaffolding for marine organisms.