Nazi Explosives, Torpedoes and Mines: How Ocean Creatures Flourishes on Abandoned Armaments

In the brackish sea off the German coast lies a graveyard of World War II explosives, torpedoes and naval mines. Dumped from barges at the conclusion of the World War II and forgotten about, thousands explosives have become matted together over the decades. They create a decaying blanket on the low-depth, muddy seafloor of the Lübeck Bay in the western tip of the Baltic.

Over the years, the Nazi arsenal was ignored and neglected. A growing number of visitors flocked to the coastal areas and tranquil sea for water sports, kiteboarding and entertainment venues. Beneath the surface, the weapons decayed.

We initially thought to see a lifeless zone, with no life because it was all poisoned, says Andrey Vedenin.

When the initial researchers went searching to see what they were affecting to the marine environment, researchers thought they would find a barren area, with nothing living there because it was all contaminated, says the lead researcher.

What they found amazed them. Vedenin recounts his team members reacting with shock when the underwater vehicle first sent the images back. This was a remarkable experience, he says.

Countless of marine animals had settled among the munitions, developing a renewed habitat more populous than the ocean bottom nearby.

This ocean community was proof to the persistence of life. Truly remarkable how much marine organisms we find in locations that are supposed to be toxic and dangerous, he states.

In excess of 40 starfish had gathered on to one exposed piece of TNT. They were dwelling on metal shells, fuse pockets and transport cases just centimetres from its volatile core. Fish, crabs, anemones and mussels were all observed on the old munitions. It's similar to a reef ecosystem in terms of the quantity of animal life that was there, states Vedenin.

Surprising Creature Concentration

An average of more than 40,000 creatures were living on every square metre of the weapons, experts wrote in their study on the finding. The nearby seabed was much less diverse, with only eight thousand creatures on every square metre.

It is paradoxical that things that are designed to eliminate everything are hosting so much life, explains Vedenin. One can observe how nature adjusts after a devastating occurrence such as the World War II and how, in certain respects, life finds its way to the most hazardous places.

Artificial Structures as Marine Habitats

Artificial constructions such as sunken vessels, offshore windfarms, drilling platforms and undersea pipes can create substitutes, restoring some of the lost marine environment. This investigation demonstrates that explosives could be similarly beneficial – the explosion of life on those in the Lübeck Bay is probable to be found in other locations.

Between the late 1940s and 1948, 1.6 million tonnes of munitions were discarded off the German shoreline. Numerous of individuals loaded them in barges; a portion were placed in specific areas, others just thrown overboard during transport. This is the initial instance scientists have studied how marine life has responded.

Global Examples of Ocean Transformation

• In the US, decommissioned drilling platforms have become coral reefs
• Sunken ships from the first world war have become environments for marine life along the Potomac River in the state of Maryland
• Military vehicle parts that have become environment to reef-building organisms off Asan in Guam

These areas become even more crucial for marine life as the seas are increasingly denuded by fishing, seafloor dredging and boat mooring. Sunken ships and weapons dump sites practically serve as protected areas – they are not national parks, but nearly any kind of human activity is banned, explains Vedenin. Therefore a lot of species that are otherwise scarce or declining, such as the Baltic cod, are prospering.

Future Factors

Anywhere armed conflict has occurred in the last century, adjacent waters are often littered with munitions, explains Vedenin. Many millions of tonnes of dangerous substances lie in our oceans.

The locations of these explosives are inadequately recorded, partially because of international boundaries, restricted military information and the fact that archives are hidden in old files. They present an explosion and security risk, as well as threat from the continuous leakage of toxic chemicals.

As Germany and other countries start clearing these relics, researchers plan to protect the marine communities that have formed nearby. In the Bay of Lübeck explosives are presently being cleared.

We should replace these metal carcasses originating from weapons with some less dangerous, various non-dangerous structures, like maybe artificial reefs, says Vedenin.

He presently wishes that what transpires in Lübeck sets a example for substituting material after explosive extraction in other locations – because even the most damaging weaponry can become foundation for marine organisms.