Nazi Munitions, Torpedo Heads and Mines: How Marine Life Thrives on Abandoned Armaments

In the slightly salty sea off the Germany's coast lies a collection of World War II explosives, torpedoes and mines. Discarded from vessels at the conclusion of the second world war and left behind, countless explosives have fused into clusters over the decades. They create a corroding carpet on the low-depth, muddy seafloor of the Lübeck Bay in the western tip of the Baltic Sea.

Over the decades, the explosive stockpile was overlooked and forgotten about. A growing number of tourists flocked to the sandy beaches and tranquil sea for water sports, kite surfing and entertainment venues. Below the waves, the weapons eroded.

Some of us anticipated to see a barren area, with no life because it was all contaminated, states the lead researcher.

When the initial researchers went looking to see what they were affecting to the ecosystem, the team thought they would find a lifeless zone, with no life because it was all toxic, says the lead researcher.

What they observed amazed them. Vedenin remembers his scientists reacting with shock when the ROV first transmitted footage. It was a great moment, he notes.

Thousands of ocean life had established habitats on the munitions, creating a renewed marine community more populous than the sea floor surrounding it.

This marine city was evidence to the tenacity of marine life. It is actually surprising how much life we observe in areas that are expected to be dangerous and dangerous, he states.

Over 40 starfish had clustered on to one exposed fragment of explosive material. They were dwelling on metal shells, fuse pockets and storage boxes just a short distance from its dangerous content. Fish, crabs, anemones and bivalves were all discovered on the old munitions. You could compare it with a marine reef in terms of the abundance of animal life that was inhabiting the area, notes Vedenin.

Remarkable Creature Concentration

An mean of more than 40,000 creatures were residing on every meter squared of the explosives, scientists documented in their study on the finding. The nearby seabed was much less diverse, with only 8,000 creatures on every square metre.

It is paradoxical that objects that are intended to destroy everything are drawing so much marine organisms, says Vedenin. You can see how the natural world adjusts after a major disaster such as the second world war and how, in some way, life returns to the most hazardous places.

Man-made Features as Marine Environments

Artificial structures such as shipwrecks, offshore windfarms, drilling platforms and pipelines can create substitutes, replacing some of the destroyed marine environment. This study demonstrates that explosives could be equally beneficial – the bloom of life on those in the Bay of Lübeck is expected to be found in different areas.

Between 1946 and 1948, 1.6m tonnes of weapons were dumped off the German coast. Numerous of people placed them in barges; some were deposited in specific areas, the remainder just dumped en route. This is the initial instance researchers have recorded how ocean organisms has adapted.

Global Examples of Marine Adaptation

• In the United States, decommissioned drilling platforms have transformed into reef ecosystems
• Shipwrecks from the first world war have become environments for creatures along the Potomac in Maryland
• Tank tracks that have become home to coral off Asan beach in the Pacific island

These areas become even more valuable for marine life as the oceans are increasingly denuded by commercial fishing, seafloor dredging and anchoring. Sunken ships and explosive disposal locations effectively act as protected areas – they are not official reserves, but nearly any kind of anthropogenic disturbance is banned, explains Vedenin. As a result a lot of species that are otherwise scarce or declining, such as the cod fish, are flourishing.

Future Factors

Anywhere warfare has happened in the recent history, adjacent waters are typically strewn with munitions, explains Vedenin. Many millions of tons of explosive material lie in our seas.

The sites of these weapons are poorly documented, in part because of sovereign limits, classified armed forces records and the reality that records are hidden in old files. They create an detonation and security risk, as well as risk from the persistent emission of toxic chemicals.

As Germany and different states begin extracting these artifacts, experts hope to protect the habitats that have developed around them. In the Bay of Lübeck weapons are currently being extracted.

It would be wise to replace these iron structures remaining from munitions with certain more secure, some non-dangerous structures, like maybe concrete structures, states Vedenin.

He now wishes that what transpires in the Bay of Lübeck sets a model for substituting material after munitions removal elsewhere – because also the most damaging explosives can become framework for marine organisms.