Nazi Explosives, Torpedoes and Naval Mines: The Way Ocean Creatures Thrives on Dumped Weapons

In the brackish sea off the German coast sits a collection of World War II explosives, torpedo heads and naval mines. Discarded from boats at the end of the second world war and neglected, countless explosives have fused into clusters over the decades. They form a corroding layer on the low-depth, silty ocean floor of the Bay of Lübeck in the western part of the Baltic.

Over the decades, the Nazi arsenal was overlooked and neglected. A increasing amount of tourists came to the sandy beaches and calm waters for water sports, kiteboarding and amusement parks. Below the waves, the weapons deteriorated.

Some of us expected to see a desert, with nothing living there because it was all contaminated, states Andrey Vedenin.

When the initial researchers went investigating to see what they were doing to the marine environment, the team thought they would find a desert, with no life because it was all poisoned, says a scientist.

What they found amazed them. Vedenin recounts his team members shouting with surprise when the underwater vehicle first transmitted footage. It was a great moment, he says.

Countless of ocean life had settled amid the munitions, forming a regenerated ecosystem denser than the sea floor around it.

This marine city was proof to the persistence of life. It is actually surprising how much marine organisms we discover in locations that are expected to be dangerous and harmful, he states.

Over 40 sea stars had gathered on to one exposed fragment of TNT. They were dwelling on steel casings, ignition chambers and storage boxes just centimetres from its explosive filling. Marine fish, crustaceans, anemones and bivalves were all observed on the old munitions. It's similar to a marine reef in terms of the quantity of animal life that was inhabiting the area, says Vedenin.

Remarkable Population Density

An mean of more than forty thousand organisms were living on every meter squared of the weapons, researchers documented in their study on the observation. The adjacent region was much sparser, with only eight thousand creatures on every meter squared.

It is surprising that objects that are intended to destroy everything are hosting so much marine organisms, states Vedenin. You can see how the natural world adapts after a devastating occurrence such as the second world war and how, in some way, marine life establishes itself to the most dangerous areas.

Artificial Features as Ocean Environments

Artificial constructions such as shipwrecks, wind turbines, drilling platforms and undersea pipes can create substitutes, restoring some of the destroyed habitat. This investigation shows that weapons could be comparably positive – the proliferation of marine organisms on those in the Bay of Lübeck is likely to be repeated elsewhere.

Between 1946 and 1948, 1.6 million tons of arms were discarded off the German coast. Countless of individuals placed them in boats; a portion were deposited in designated locations, others just thrown overboard while traveling. This is the first time experts have recorded how marine life has responded.

Worldwide Examples of Ocean Transformation

• In the US, decommissioned drilling platforms have transformed into marine habitats
• Sunken ships from the first world war have become homes for marine life along the Potomac in the state of Maryland
• Tank tracks that have become environment to reef-building organisms off Asan beach in Guam

These areas become even more important for wildlife as the marine environments are increasingly denuded by fishing, bottom trawling and anchoring. Shipwrecks and munitions areas effectively serve as refuges – they are not national parks, but nearly any kind of human activity is banned, explains Vedenin. Consequently a lot of species that are typically rare or decreasing, such as the cod fish, are prospering.

Coming Factors

Anywhere warfare has occurred in the past 100 years, nearby oceans are usually littered with explosives, says Vedenin. Many millions of tons of dangerous substances rest in our marine environments.

The locations of these weapons are poorly recorded, partly because of national borders, secret armed forces records and the reality that records are hidden in historical records. They create an explosion and security risk, as well as risk from the persistent release of hazardous substances.

As Germany and other countries start clearing these artifacts, experts hope to preserve the habitats that have established in their vicinity. In the Bay of Lübeck explosives are presently being extracted.

We should substitute these steel remains left from munitions with some safer, various non-dangerous objects, like possibly man-made habitats, states Vedenin.

He now aspires that what transpires in the Bay of Lübeck creates a model for replacing structures after munitions removal in different areas – because also the most damaging armaments can become foundation for marine organisms.