Nazi Explosives, Torpedo Heads and Naval Mines: The Way Marine Life Thrives on Abandoned Armaments

In the brackish sea off the German shoreline sits a graveyard of World War II explosives, torpedoes and naval mines. Thrown off barges at the end of the second world war and forgotten about, numerous weapons have fused into clusters over the years. They comprise a decaying blanket on the shallow, silty seafloor of the Bay of Lübeck in the western tip of the Baltic Sea.

Over the decades, the wartime weapons was overlooked and neglected. A increasing amount of visitors came to the coastal areas and calm waters for jetskiing, kiteboarding and entertainment venues. Below the waves, the weapons deteriorated.

Some of us expected to see a desert, with no life because it was all poisoned, states the lead researcher.

When the initial researchers went investigating to see what they were doing to the marine environment, the team expected to see a desert, with no life because it was all toxic, explains Andrey Vedenin.

What they observed amazed them. Vedenin recounts his scientists reacting with shock when the underwater vehicle first relayed pictures. That moment was a remarkable experience, he recalls.

Thousands of marine animals had settled among the explosives, forming a revitalized marine community richer than the sea floor around it.

This underwater metropolis was proof to the persistence of life. Indeed surprising how much marine organisms we observe in areas that are considered hazardous and risky, he says.

Over 40 sea stars had gathered on to one visible fragment of TNT. They were dwelling on steel casings, fuse pockets and transport cases just centimetres from its volatile core. Fish, crabs, anemones and bivalves were all observed on the historic weapons. You could compare it with a reef ecosystem in terms of the amount of creatures that was there, says Vedenin.

Surprising Creature Concentration

An mean of more than forty thousand organisms were dwelling on every square metre of the munitions, researchers documented in their study on the observation. The adjacent region was much poorer in life, with only eight thousand organisms on every square metre.

It is ironic that objects that are designed to eliminate everything are hosting so much life, explains Vedenin. You can see how the natural world adjusts after a devastating occurrence such as the second world war and how, in certain respects, marine life returns to the most risky locations.

Artificial Structures as Marine Environments

Man-made structures such as shipwrecks, wind turbines, oil rigs and undersea pipes can offer alternatives, restoring some of the lost habitat. This study reveals that weapons could be similarly beneficial – the bloom of marine organisms on those in the Lübeck Bay is expected to be duplicated in different areas.

Between the late 1940s and the post-war period, 1.6 million tonnes of munitions were discarded off the Germany's coast. Countless of individuals loaded them in boats; some were placed in designated sites, the remainder just dumped while traveling. This is the first time scientists have recorded how marine life has adapted.

Worldwide Examples of Ocean Adaptation

• In the United States, decommissioned drilling platforms have turned into coral reefs
• Submerged vessels from the World War I have become environments for wildlife along the Potomac in the state of Maryland
• Tank tracks that have become habitat to reef-building organisms off Asan in Guam

These places become even more important for wildlife as the oceans are increasingly denuded by commercial fishing, bottom trawling and boat mooring. Sunken ships and munitions areas effectively function as protected areas – they are not national parks, but virtually any kind of anthropogenic disturbance is restricted, explains Vedenin. Consequently a numerous of marine species that are typically scarce or declining, such as the cod fish, are thriving.

Coming Considerations

Anywhere warfare has taken place in the recent history, surrounding seas are often littered with explosives, says Vedenin. Many millions of tonnes of volatile compounds remain in our oceans.

The locations of these weapons are poorly mapped, in part because of sovereign limits, secret defense data and the situation that documents are hidden in historic archives. They present an detonation and safety hazard, as well as danger from the persistent leakage of toxic chemicals.

As Germany and different states begin extracting these artifacts, scientists plan to preserve the marine communities that have developed around them. In the Lübeck Bay weapons are currently being extracted.

Researchers recommend replace these iron structures remaining from weapons with certain safer, some safe objects, like possibly concrete structures, says Vedenin.

He now aspires that what transpires in the Bay of Lübeck sets a precedent for replacing material after weapon clearance in other locations – because even the most harmful weaponry can become foundation for new life.