Nazi Munitions, Torpedo Heads and Naval Mines: The Way Ocean Creatures Flourishes on Abandoned Armaments

In the slightly salty sea off the German coast sits a wasteland of World War II explosives, torpedoes and naval mines. Dumped from barges at the conclusion of the World War II and left behind, thousands explosives have accumulated over the decades. They form a corroding carpet on the low-depth, silty seafloor of the Lübeck Bay in the western tip of the Baltic Sea.

Over the years, the Nazi arsenal was ignored and neglected. A increasing amount of tourists came to the sandy beaches and calm waters for jetskiing, kiteboarding and entertainment venues. Underwater, the weapons eroded.

Some of us expected to see a barren area, with nothing living there because it was all toxic, says a scientist.

When the initial researchers went investigating to see what they were doing to the ecosystem, researchers expected to see a lifeless zone, with nothing living there because it was all contaminated, explains a scientist.

What they found surprised them. Vedenin recounts his team members reacting with shock when the underwater vehicle first relayed pictures. It was a memorable occasion, he notes.

Thousands of ocean life had made their homes on the weapons, creating a regenerated habitat denser than the sea floor surrounding it.

This ocean community was evidence to the resilience of life. Truly remarkable how much life we discover in areas that are considered toxic and harmful, he explains.

Over 40 starfish had gathered on to one accessible chunk of explosive material. They were living on steel casings, ignition chambers and carrying containers just a short distance from its explosive filling. Marine fish, crabs, sea anemones and bivalves were all observed on the discarded explosives. It resembles a reef ecosystem in terms of the amount of fauna that was present, says Vedenin.

Unexpected Creature Concentration

An mean of more than forty thousand organisms were dwelling on every square metre of the munitions, experts reported in their research on the discovery. The surrounding area was much less diverse, with only 8,000 organisms on every meter squared.

It is ironic that items that are intended to destroy all life are hosting so much marine organisms, says Vedenin. One can observe how nature adjusts after a major disaster such as the second world war and how, in some way, marine life finds its way to the most risky areas.

Man-made Structures as Marine Environments

Artificial features such as sunken vessels, offshore windfarms, drilling platforms and pipelines can offer alternatives, compensating for some of the removed marine environment. This research reveals that weapons could be equally advantageous – the proliferation of marine organisms on those in the Bay of Lübeck is likely to be found elsewhere.

Between the late 1940s and the post-war period, 1.6m tonnes of arms were dumped off the Germany's coast. Numerous of workers placed them in vessels; a portion were dropped in allocated areas, others just discarded at sea en route. This is the first time experts have studied how ocean organisms has adapted.

Worldwide Instances of Marine Adaptation

• In the US, retired energy installations have transformed into reef ecosystems
• Sunken ships from the first world war have become habitats for marine life along the Potomac in Maryland
• Military vehicle parts that have become environment to coral off Asan beach in the Pacific island

These locations become even more valuable for wildlife as the marine environments are increasingly stripped by commercial fishing, seafloor dredging and boat mooring. Shipwrecks and munitions areas practically function as refuges – they are not official reserves, but almost any kind of human activity is prohibited, explains Vedenin. As a result a lot of marine species that are otherwise uncommon or declining, such as the cod fish, are thriving.

Coming Issues

Anywhere military conflict has occurred in the past 100 years, nearby oceans are usually containing munitions, states Vedenin. Many millions of tons of volatile compounds rest in our oceans.

The positions of these weapons are poorly recorded, in part because of sovereign limits, classified military information and the reality that archives are buried in historic archives. They present an detonation and safety hazard, as well as threat from the ongoing leakage of poisonous compounds.

As Germany and other countries begin clearing these remains, scientists aim to protect the habitats that have formed around them. In the Bay of Lübeck weapons are presently being removed.

It would be wise to substitute these steel remains left from munitions with certain safer, various safe materials, like possibly man-made habitats, suggests Vedenin.

He currently wishes that what happens in the Bay of Lübeck sets a model for replacing habitats after explosive extraction elsewhere – because even the most harmful armaments can become framework for ocean ecosystems.