Nazi Munitions, Torpedo Heads and Mines: How Ocean Creatures Flourishes on Dumped Weapons

In the brackish sea off the Germany's coast lies a graveyard of World War II explosives, torpedoes and naval mines. Discarded from boats at the conclusion of the World War II and forgotten about, countless weapons have accumulated over the decades. They create a corroding layer on the low-depth, silty ocean floor of the Lübeck Bay in the western part of the Baltic Sea.

Over the decades, the explosive stockpile was ignored and neglected. A growing number of tourists came to the sandy beaches and calm waters for water sports, kiteboarding and entertainment venues. Below the waves, the munitions decayed.

Researchers expected to see a barren area, with no life because it was all toxic, explains a scientist.

When the initial researchers went investigating to see what they were affecting to the marine environment, researchers expected to see a barren area, with nothing living there because it was all poisoned, states the lead researcher.

What they discovered astonished them. Vedenin recalls his colleagues reacting with shock when the underwater vehicle first transmitted footage. This was a remarkable experience, he recalls.

Countless of marine animals had made their homes among the explosives, developing a revitalized marine community richer than the seabed around it.

This marine city was evidence to the persistence of marine life. It is actually surprising how much marine organisms we find in areas that are expected to be hazardous and risky, he says.

In excess of 40 starfish had piled on to one accessible fragment of explosive material. They were residing on steel casings, detonator compartments and storage boxes just centimetres from its explosive filling. Marine fish, crustaceans, anemones and bivalves were all found on the old munitions. It resembles a coral reef in terms of the amount of animal life that was present, says Vedenin.

Unexpected Creature Concentration

An average of more than forty thousand creatures were dwelling on every meter squared of the explosives, scientists wrote in their study on the discovery. The adjacent region was much poorer in life, with only 8,000 creatures on every meter squared.

It is surprising that things that are designed to eliminate everything are attracting so much marine organisms, explains Vedenin. It's evident how the natural world evolves after a catastrophic event such as the World War II and how, in certain respects, life establishes itself to the most dangerous areas.

Man-made Structures as Marine Environments

Man-made constructions such as sunken vessels, offshore windfarms, drilling platforms and pipelines can create alternatives, compensating for some of the removed habitat. This research demonstrates that weapons could be equally positive – the proliferation of life on those in the Lübeck Bay is probable to be repeated elsewhere.

Between 1946 and the post-war period, 1.6m tonnes of arms were dumped off the German coast. Thousands of individuals transported them in vessels; a portion were dropped in specific locations, others just dumped while traveling. This is the first time scientists have studied how marine life has responded.

Worldwide Instances of Ocean Transformation

• In the US, retired energy installations have turned into reef ecosystems
• Shipwrecks from the World War I have become environments for marine life along the Potomac in Maryland
• Tank tracks that have become environment to reef-building organisms off Asan beach in Guam

These places become even more important for organisms as the marine environments are increasingly stripped by fishing, seafloor dredging and anchoring. Shipwrecks and explosive disposal locations practically act as protected areas – they are not official reserves, but almost any kind of anthropogenic disturbance is banned, explains Vedenin. As a result a many of marine species that are otherwise rare or decreasing, such as the Baltic cod, are prospering.

Coming Considerations

Wherever armed conflict has happened in the past 100 years, nearby oceans are often containing explosives, states Vedenin. Millions of tonnes of dangerous substances lie in our seas.

The sites of these munitions are inadequately documented, partly because of national borders, classified defense data and the reality that records are buried in historic archives. They create an detonation and safety hazard, as well as risk from the continuous emission of hazardous substances.

As the German government and different states begin removing these relics, experts aim to protect the marine communities that have established around them. In the Bay of Lübeck munitions are presently being cleared.

Researchers recommend substitute these metal carcasses remaining from weapons with certain safer, various non-dangerous objects, like maybe concrete structures, says Vedenin.

He now aspires that what happens in Lübeck establishes a precedent for replacing material after munitions removal elsewhere – because including the most damaging weaponry can become framework for new life.