Nazi Munitions, Torpedoes and Naval Mines: The Way Marine Life Thrives on Abandoned Armaments

In the slightly salty sea off the German coast rests a graveyard of Nazi bombs, torpedoes and naval mines. Discarded from boats at the conclusion of the second world war and left behind, countless explosives have fused into clusters over the decades. They form a corroding carpet on the shallow, silty seafloor of the Lübeck Bay in the western tip of the Baltic Sea.

Over the years, the explosive stockpile was overlooked and forgotten about. A increasing amount of visitors traveled to the coastal areas and calm waters for water sports, kite surfing and entertainment venues. Underwater, the weapons deteriorated.

Researchers thought to see a desert, with no life because it was all poisoned, says the lead researcher.

When the initial researchers went looking to see what they were affecting to the marine environment, some of us thought they would find a barren area, with no organisms because it was all contaminated, says the lead researcher.

What they observed surprised them. Vedenin recounts his scientists exclaiming in amazement when the submersible first relayed pictures. That moment was a memorable occasion, he recalls.

Thousands of ocean life had established habitats on the weapons, forming a revitalized habitat denser than the ocean bottom surrounding it.

This ocean community was proof to the tenacity of life. Truly surprising how much marine organisms we observe in locations that are supposed to be toxic and dangerous, he explains.

More than 40 starfish had clustered on to one exposed piece of TNT. They were living on metal shells, ignition chambers and transport cases just centimetres from its dangerous content. Fish, crabs, anemones and bivalves were all found on the old munitions. It resembles a coral reef in terms of the quantity of fauna that was inhabiting the area, notes Vedenin.

Unexpected Creature Concentration

An average of more than 40,000 animals were residing on every square metre of the weapons, scientists wrote in their paper on the finding. The adjacent region was much sparser, with only 8,000 organisms on every square metre.

It is ironic that things that are intended to eliminate everything are drawing so much life, states Vedenin. It's evident how nature evolves after a catastrophic event such as the second world war and how, in certain respects, life returns to the most dangerous areas.

Man-made Features as Marine Environments

Man-made constructions such as shipwrecks, offshore windfarms, oil rigs and undersea pipes can provide alternatives, replacing some of the destroyed marine environment. This research reveals that explosives could be similarly positive – the proliferation of life on those in the Bay of Lübeck is probable to be found in different areas.

Between 1946 and the post-war period, 1.6m tons of weapons were dumped off the German shoreline. Numerous of people placed them in barges; a portion were placed in specific sites, the remainder just thrown overboard en route. This is the first time scientists have documented how marine life has adapted.

Global Examples of Marine Transformation

• In the US, retired energy installations have become reef ecosystems
• Sunken ships from the first world war have become environments for creatures along the Potomac in Maryland
• Military vehicle parts that have become habitat to reef-building organisms off Asan beach in the Pacific island

These areas become even more valuable for marine life as the oceans are increasingly depleted by commercial fishing, seafloor dredging and anchoring. Shipwrecks and munitions areas effectively function as refuges – they are not official reserves, but virtually any kind of human activity is restricted, explains Vedenin. Therefore a numerous of organisms that are otherwise scarce or decreasing, such as the cod fish, are thriving.

Coming Issues

Anywhere military conflict has occurred in the last century, surrounding seas are often strewn with munitions, states Vedenin. Millions of tonnes of explosive material rest in our oceans.

The sites of these munitions are insufficiently documented, partly because of international boundaries, classified armed forces records and the fact that archives are stored in old files. They create an detonation and safety risk, as well as threat from the persistent leakage of toxic chemicals.

As the German government and other countries embark on removing these relics, researchers plan to preserve the habitats that have developed around them. In the Lübeck Bay munitions are currently being cleared.

It would be wise to replace these iron structures originating from munitions with certain less dangerous, various harmless objects, like maybe artificial reefs, states Vedenin.

He presently wishes that what happens in the Bay of Lübeck creates a model for substituting structures after explosive extraction in different areas – because even the most harmful weaponry can become scaffolding for ocean ecosystems.