Nazi Bombs, Torpedoes and Mines: How Ocean Creatures Prosper on Dumped Weapons

In the slightly salty sea off the Germany's coast rests a graveyard of Nazi bombs, torpedoes and mines. Thrown off vessels at the end of the World War II and neglected, thousands munitions have become matted together over the years. They create a decaying layer on the shallow, muddy ocean floor of the Bay of Lübeck in the western part of the Baltic.

Over the decades, the wartime weapons was ignored and forgotten about. A growing number of tourists came to the sandy beaches and calm waters for water sports, kiteboarding and amusement parks. Beneath the surface, the weapons decayed.

We initially expected to see a desert, with no organisms because it was all contaminated, says the lead researcher.

When the first scientists went looking to see what they were doing to the marine environment, some of us expected to see a barren area, with no organisms because it was all toxic, states Andrey Vedenin.

What they discovered astonished them. Vedenin recalls his team members shouting with surprise when the underwater vehicle first transmitted footage. This was a remarkable experience, he says.

Thousands of sea creatures had established habitats among the weapons, forming a regenerated habitat richer than the sea floor nearby.

This underwater metropolis was testament to the resilience of marine life. Truly remarkable how much life we discover in places that are considered hazardous and risky, he states.

Over 40 starfish had clustered on to one visible chunk of TNT. They were residing on steel casings, fuse pockets and transport cases just a short distance from its explosive filling. Marine fish, crustaceans, anemones and mussels were all discovered on the old munitions. It resembles a reef ecosystem in terms of the abundance of animal life that was present, states Vedenin.

Remarkable Population Density

An mean of more than 40,000 organisms were residing on every square metre of the munitions, researchers reported in their research on the observation. The adjacent region was much less diverse, with only eight thousand organisms on every meter squared.

It is ironic that objects that are meant to eliminate all life are drawing so much marine organisms, explains Vedenin. It's evident how nature adapts after a catastrophic event such as the second world war and how, in some way, life establishes itself to the most risky places.

Man-made Structures as Marine Habitats

Artificial constructions such as shipwrecks, wind turbines, drilling platforms and undersea pipes can create replacements, replacing some of the destroyed marine environment. This study reveals that explosives could be comparably beneficial – the proliferation of life on those in the Bay of Lübeck is probable to be duplicated elsewhere.

Between the late 1940s and the post-war period, 1.6m tonnes of munitions were disposed of off the German coast. Countless of people loaded them in boats; some were dropped in allocated locations, the remainder just dumped during transport. This is the first time scientists have documented how marine life has reacted.

Global Examples of Ocean Adaptation

• In the United States, decommissioned energy installations have transformed into reef ecosystems
• Submerged vessels 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 home to reef-building organisms off Asan in Guam

These areas become even more valuable for organisms as the oceans are increasingly denuded by fishing, seafloor dredging and anchoring. Shipwrecks and munitions areas effectively serve as sanctuaries – they are not official reserves, but nearly any kind of anthropogenic disturbance is banned, explains Vedenin. Therefore a many of species that are usually scarce or decreasing, such as the cod fish, are flourishing.

Coming Considerations

Wherever warfare has occurred in the recent history, nearby oceans are often containing weapons, says Vedenin. Many millions of tons of dangerous substances lie in our oceans.

The locations of these munitions are inadequately recorded, partially because of sovereign limits, secret military information and the reality that records are hidden in historic archives. They pose an explosion and safety danger, as well as threat from the continuous release of hazardous substances.

As the German government and other countries embark on clearing these relics, scientists aim to protect the marine communities that have established around them. In the Bay of Lübeck weapons are already being cleared.

It would be wise to substitute these steel remains remaining from weapons with some safer, various harmless materials, like possibly concrete structures, says Vedenin.

He presently hopes that what transpires in Lübeck creates a example for replacing material after munitions removal elsewhere – because including the most destructive explosives can become framework for marine organisms.