Nazi Explosives, Torpedo Heads and Naval Mines: How Marine Life Thrives on Abandoned Weapons

In the slightly salty waters off the Germany's coast rests a graveyard of World War II explosives, torpedoes and naval mines. Discarded from boats at the end of the World War II and neglected, countless weapons have fused into clusters over the decades. They comprise a decaying layer on the low-depth, silty 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 visitors traveled to the coastal areas and tranquil sea for water sports, kite surfing and entertainment venues. Beneath the surface, the weapons eroded.

We initially expected to see a desert, with no organisms because it was all toxic, states a scientist.

When the team went investigating to see what they were affecting to the ecosystem, researchers thought they would find a lifeless zone, with nothing living there because it was all poisoned, states the lead researcher.

What they observed surprised them. Vedenin remembers his colleagues shouting with surprise when the underwater vehicle first sent the images back. This was a great moment, he notes.

Thousands of marine animals had established habitats among the explosives, developing a revitalized marine community richer than the seabed nearby.

This underwater metropolis was evidence to the tenacity of life. It is actually astonishing how much life we observe in locations that are considered hazardous and harmful, he states.

In excess of 40 starfish had piled on to one accessible chunk of explosive material. They were dwelling on steel casings, ignition chambers and carrying containers just centimetres from its volatile core. Fish, crabs, sea anemones and mussels were all discovered on the discarded explosives. It resembles a marine reef in terms of the quantity of fauna that was inhabiting the area, says Vedenin.

Remarkable Creature Concentration

An average of more than 40,000 organisms were dwelling on every meter squared of the explosives, scientists wrote in their paper on the finding. The adjacent region was much less diverse, with only eight thousand individuals on every square metre.

It is ironic that objects that are meant to destroy all life are drawing so much marine organisms, explains Vedenin. It's evident how the natural world adapts after a major disaster such as the second world war and how, in certain respects, life establishes itself to the most risky areas.

Artificial Features as Marine Habitats

Man-made constructions such as shipwrecks, wind turbines, oil rigs and undersea pipes can provide substitutes, compensating for some of the removed habitat. This investigation reveals that munitions could be equally advantageous – the explosion of life on those in the Lübeck Bay is expected to be repeated in other locations.

Between the late 1940s and 1948, 1.6m tonnes of munitions were disposed of off the German coast. Numerous of individuals loaded them in boats; some were dropped in specific sites, the remainder just thrown overboard while traveling. This is the initial instance researchers have recorded how ocean organisms has adapted.

Global Examples of Ocean Transformation

• In the United States, retired oil and gas structures have become marine habitats
• Shipwrecks from the first world war have become homes for wildlife along the Potomac River in the state of Maryland
• Military vehicle parts that have become environment to coral off Asan in Guam

These areas become even more important for wildlife as the seas are increasingly denuded by commercial fishing, bottom trawling and boat mooring. Shipwrecks and munitions areas practically function as protected areas – they are not national parks, but virtually any kind of human activity is restricted, says Vedenin. As a result a numerous of species that are usually uncommon or diminishing, such as the Baltic cod, are prospering.

Coming Issues

Anywhere armed conflict has happened in the past 100 years, surrounding seas are typically containing weapons, explains Vedenin. Millions of tons of dangerous substances lie in our oceans.

The positions of these weapons are poorly documented, in part because of sovereign limits, classified defense data and the fact that archives are stored in historical records. They pose an detonation and security hazard, as well as danger from the ongoing emission of poisonous compounds.

As the German government and additional nations embark on extracting these relics, experts aim to protect the marine communities that have established around them. In the Lübeck Bay explosives are already being extracted.

It would be wise to substitute these metal carcasses remaining from munitions with some more secure, some harmless materials, like maybe artificial reefs, suggests Vedenin.

He now aspires that what transpires in the Bay of Lübeck establishes a model for substituting structures after explosive extraction elsewhere – because also the most damaging weaponry can become foundation for marine organisms.