Nazi Explosives, Torpedo Heads and Mines: How Marine Life Prosper on Dumped Armaments

In the slightly salty sea off the German coast lies a graveyard of Nazi bombs, torpedo heads and naval mines. Thrown off vessels at the end of the second world war and left behind, countless explosives have accumulated over the years. They create a decaying layer on the shallow, muddy seafloor of the Lübeck Bay in the western tip of the Baltic Sea.

Over the decades, the wartime weapons was overlooked and forgotten about. A growing number of tourists traveled to the sandy beaches and calm waters for jetskiing, kite surfing and amusement parks. Underwater, the weapons eroded.

Some of us expected to see a lifeless zone, with no organisms because it was all poisoned, says a scientist.

When the first scientists went investigating to see what they were affecting to the ecosystem, researchers expected to see a lifeless zone, with nothing living there because it was all poisoned, states a scientist.

What they found surprised them. Vedenin recounts his team members reacting with shock when the submersible first sent the images back. That moment was a memorable occasion, he recalls.

Numerous of ocean life had settled on the explosives, creating a regenerated ecosystem denser than the ocean bottom around it.

This ocean community was evidence to the resilience of marine life. Indeed remarkable how much marine organisms we discover in locations that are supposed to be hazardous and risky, he says.

In excess of 40 starfish had clustered on to one visible piece of explosive material. They were living on iron containers, detonator compartments and transport cases just centimetres from its dangerous content. Fish, crabs, sea anemones and mussels were all found on the historic weapons. It's similar to a marine reef in terms of the abundance of fauna that was inhabiting the area, says Vedenin.

Remarkable Creature Concentration

An mean of more than 40,000 organisms were residing on every square metre of the weapons, scientists documented in their paper on the observation. The nearby seabed was much less diverse, with only eight thousand organisms on every meter squared.

It is surprising that things that are meant to kill all life are hosting so much marine organisms, says Vedenin. One can observe how the natural world adapts after a major disaster such as the World War II and how, in certain respects, marine life finds its way to the most risky areas.

Artificial Structures as Marine Environments

Man-made constructions such as sunken vessels, offshore windfarms, drilling platforms and undersea pipes can offer substitutes, restoring some of the destroyed habitat. This investigation demonstrates that weapons could be equally beneficial – the bloom of life on those in the Bay of Lübeck is expected to be found in other locations.

Between the late 1940s and the post-war period, 1.6m tonnes of weapons were dumped off the German coast. Numerous of workers transported them in vessels; a portion were dropped in specific areas, the remainder just thrown overboard while traveling. This is the first time experts have recorded how ocean organisms has adapted.

Global Examples of Marine Adaptation

• In the US, retired drilling platforms have become coral reefs
• Sunken ships from the World War I have become environments for wildlife along the Potomac River in the state of Maryland
• Military vehicle parts that have become habitat to reef-building organisms off Asan in Guam

These areas become even more valuable for organisms as the oceans are increasingly stripped by commercial fishing, seafloor dredging and boat mooring. Shipwrecks and explosive disposal locations practically serve as protected areas – they are not official reserves, but almost any kind of anthropogenic disturbance is restricted, says Vedenin. Therefore a many of organisms that are usually rare or diminishing, such as the cod fish, are flourishing.

Future Considerations

Wherever military conflict has happened in the past 100 years, adjacent waters are usually containing munitions, says Vedenin. Many millions of tonnes of explosive material rest in our oceans.

The positions of these munitions are poorly documented, partially because of sovereign limits, classified armed forces records and the situation that archives are buried in historical records. They create an explosion and safety danger, as well as risk from the ongoing release of poisonous compounds.

As the German government and additional nations start extracting these relics, researchers hope to preserve the habitats that have developed nearby. In the Bay of Lübeck weapons are currently being extracted.

Researchers recommend substitute these iron structures left from munitions with some safer, some safe materials, like maybe artificial reefs, suggests Vedenin.

He presently wishes that what transpires in Lübeck establishes a model for replacing material after explosive extraction in other locations – because also the most harmful armaments can become foundation for new life.