Nazi Explosives, Torpedoes and Mines: How Ocean Creatures Flourishes on Discarded Weapons

In the brackish sea off the German shoreline sits a wasteland of Nazi bombs, torpedo heads and naval mines. Discarded from barges at the conclusion of the World War II and neglected, thousands explosives have fused into clusters over the years. They comprise a corroding carpet on the shallow, muddy ocean floor of the Lübeck Bay in the western part of the Baltic Sea.

Over the years, the wartime weapons was ignored and forgotten about. A growing number of tourists flocked to the sandy beaches and calm waters for water sports, kite surfing and entertainment venues. Underwater, the munitions deteriorated.

Researchers expected to see a lifeless zone, with nothing living there because it was all toxic, says Andrey Vedenin.

When the initial researchers went investigating to see what they were affecting to the ecosystem, researchers expected to see a desert, with no life because it was all poisoned, states a scientist.

What they discovered amazed them. Vedenin remembers his colleagues reacting with shock when the underwater vehicle first sent the images back. This was a memorable occasion, he says.

Thousands of sea creatures had made their homes on the explosives, creating a regenerated marine community richer than the ocean bottom nearby.

This underwater metropolis was proof to the persistence of marine life. Indeed remarkable how much life we observe in places that are considered toxic and harmful, he says.

More than 40 starfish had piled on to one accessible piece of TNT. They were dwelling on steel casings, fuse pockets and transport cases just a short distance from its volatile core. Fish, crabs, sea anemones and mussels were all observed on the historic weapons. You could compare it with a marine reef in terms of the abundance of fauna that was inhabiting the area, states Vedenin.

Surprising Creature Concentration

An average of more than 40,000 animals were dwelling on every square metre of the munitions, experts reported in their research on the observation. The nearby seabed was much poorer in life, with only eight thousand individuals on every meter squared.

It is surprising that items that are designed to eliminate all life are drawing so much life, says Vedenin. It's evident how nature adjusts after a catastrophic event such as the World War II and how, in some way, marine life finds its way to the most dangerous places.

Man-made Structures as Marine Habitats

Man-made features such as shipwrecks, wind turbines, oil rigs and pipelines can offer alternatives, compensating for some of the removed habitat. This research shows that explosives could be comparably positive – the bloom of life on those in the Lübeck Bay is likely to be found elsewhere.

Between 1946 and 1948, 1.6 million tons of weapons were discarded off the Germany's coast. Countless of individuals loaded them in vessels; some were placed in designated areas, others just discarded at sea while traveling. This is the initial instance experts have studied how ocean organisms has responded.

Global Examples of Marine Transformation

• In the United States, retired energy installations have transformed into coral reefs
• Sunken ships from the World War I have become habitats for marine life along the Potomac in Maryland
• Tank tracks that have become home to reef-building organisms off Asan in Guam

These locations become even more important for organisms as the marine environments are increasingly depleted by commercial fishing, bottom trawling and boat mooring. Shipwrecks and munitions areas effectively act as refuges – they are not official reserves, but almost any kind of human activity is prohibited, explains Vedenin. Consequently a lot of species that are otherwise rare or declining, such as the cod fish, are thriving.

Future Issues

Anywhere armed conflict has taken place in the past 100 years, adjacent waters are usually littered with weapons, explains Vedenin. Millions of tons of volatile compounds rest in our marine environments.

The positions of these munitions are poorly documented, in part because of national borders, restricted defense data and the situation that archives are hidden in historical records. They create an detonation and safety risk, as well as danger from the continuous leakage of poisonous compounds.

As the German government and other countries begin removing these artifacts, scientists aim to safeguard the ecosystems that have formed nearby. In the Bay of Lübeck weapons are already being cleared.

We should substitute these steel remains originating from munitions with some less dangerous, some non-dangerous materials, like possibly concrete structures, suggests Vedenin.

He presently aspires that what transpires in Lübeck creates a precedent for replacing material after explosive extraction in other locations – because including the most destructive armaments can become framework for ocean ecosystems.