Nazi Bombs, Torpedoes and Naval Mines: The Way Marine Life Thrives on Dumped Weapons

In the slightly salty sea off the German coast rests a collection of Nazi bombs, torpedo heads and naval mines. Thrown off boats at the conclusion of the second world war and left behind, countless explosives have become matted together over the decades. They create a rusting carpet on the shallow, muddy seafloor of the Lübeck Bay in the western tip of the Baltic Sea.

Over the years, the wartime weapons was ignored and forgotten about. A growing number of visitors flocked to the coastal areas and calm waters for jetskiing, kiteboarding and entertainment venues. Beneath the surface, the weapons eroded.

Researchers anticipated to see a lifeless zone, with no organisms because it was all poisoned, states Andrey Vedenin.

When the team went searching to see what they were affecting to the marine environment, the team expected to see a desert, with nothing living there because it was all poisoned, says a scientist.

What they discovered astonished them. Vedenin recounts his colleagues exclaiming in amazement when the underwater vehicle first sent the images back. This was a memorable occasion, he recalls.

Numerous of sea creatures had settled on the explosives, forming a regenerated ecosystem richer than the sea floor around it.

This underwater metropolis was testament to the resilience of life. Truly remarkable how much marine organisms we find in places that are expected to be dangerous and risky, he states.

More than 40 sea stars had gathered on to one visible fragment of explosive material. They were residing on iron containers, detonator compartments and carrying containers just a short distance from its explosive filling. Marine fish, crustaceans, anemones and bivalves were all found on the discarded explosives. You could compare it with a reef ecosystem in terms of the abundance of creatures that was there, states Vedenin.

Remarkable Population Density

An mean of more than 40,000 animals were dwelling on every meter squared of the explosives, scientists documented in their paper on the discovery. The surrounding area was much less diverse, with only 8,000 individuals on every meter squared.

It is paradoxical that objects that are designed to eliminate all life are drawing so much life, states Vedenin. It's evident how the natural world adapts after a catastrophic event such as the World War II and how, in some way, marine life finds its way to the most risky locations.

Artificial Structures as Marine Environments

Man-made constructions such as sunken vessels, offshore windfarms, drilling platforms and pipelines can offer alternatives, replacing some of the lost habitat. This study shows that weapons could be comparably beneficial – the bloom of marine organisms on those in the Lübeck Bay is likely to be found elsewhere.

Between 1946 and the post-war period, 1.6 million tonnes of weapons were discarded off the German shoreline. Numerous of individuals transported them in vessels; a portion were dropped in specific areas, others just discarded at sea during transport. This is the initial instance researchers have documented how ocean organisms has responded.

Worldwide Examples of Ocean Adaptation

• In the US, decommissioned energy installations have transformed into marine habitats
• Shipwrecks from the first world war have become environments for wildlife along the Potomac River in the state of Maryland
• Tank tracks that have become environment to coral off Asan in Guam

These places become even more valuable for marine life as the seas are increasingly stripped by fishing, bottom trawling and boat mooring. Shipwrecks and weapons dump sites essentially function as protected areas – they are not national parks, but virtually any kind of human activity is prohibited, says Vedenin. Therefore a many of species that are typically rare or declining, such as the cod fish, are flourishing.

Coming Factors

Anywhere military conflict has occurred in the past 100 years, adjacent waters are typically strewn with munitions, says Vedenin. Many millions of tons of explosive material lie in our oceans.

The sites of these weapons are poorly documented, in part because of sovereign limits, secret military information and the reality that records are buried in old files. They create an detonation and safety risk, as well as risk from the ongoing emission of poisonous compounds.

As Germany and other countries embark on extracting these remains, experts plan to preserve the ecosystems that have formed in their vicinity. In the Bay of Lübeck munitions are already being extracted.

We should substitute these iron structures left from munitions with some more secure, some non-dangerous materials, like maybe concrete structures, states Vedenin.

He now wishes that what happens in Lübeck creates a model for replacing material after weapon clearance in different areas – because also the most damaging armaments can become framework for ocean ecosystems.