Nazi Explosives, Torpedo Heads and Naval Mines: How Ocean Creatures Thrives on Dumped Weapons

In the slightly salty waters off the German coast lies a wasteland of Nazi bombs, torpedo heads and mines. Dumped from vessels at the end of the World War II and forgotten about, numerous weapons have fused into clusters over the decades. They create a rusting carpet on the low-depth, silty seafloor of the Lübeck Bay in the western tip of the Baltic Sea.

Over the years, the wartime weapons was overlooked and neglected. A growing number of visitors flocked to the coastal areas and calm waters for jetskiing, kiteboarding and amusement parks. Below the waves, the weapons deteriorated.

We initially thought to see a barren area, with no organisms because it was all contaminated, states a scientist.

When the initial researchers went searching to see what they were doing to the marine environment, the team expected to see a barren area, with no life because it was all toxic, explains a scientist.

What they observed astonished them. Vedenin remembers his scientists exclaiming in amazement when the submersible first relayed pictures. This was a remarkable experience, he says.

Thousands of ocean life had settled among the weapons, creating a revitalized ecosystem richer than the seabed surrounding it.

This ocean community was evidence to the persistence of marine life. Indeed surprising how much life we observe in places that are expected to be dangerous and dangerous, he says.

In excess of 40 sea stars had gathered on to one visible fragment of explosive material. They were living on metal shells, detonator compartments and transport cases just centimetres from its volatile core. Marine fish, crustaceans, sea anemones and bivalves were all discovered on the historic weapons. It resembles a marine reef in terms of the quantity of animal life that was inhabiting the area, says Vedenin.

Remarkable Population Density

An average of more than forty thousand organisms were dwelling on every square metre of the weapons, scientists documented in their research on the finding. The nearby seabed was much less diverse, with only eight thousand individuals on every square metre.

It is surprising that items that are intended to eliminate everything are attracting so much life, says Vedenin. It's evident how nature adapts after a major disaster such as the second world war and how, in certain respects, life finds its way to the most risky locations.

Artificial Structures as Ocean Environments

Artificial features such as shipwrecks, offshore windfarms, oil rigs and undersea pipes can provide alternatives, compensating for some of the removed habitat. This investigation shows that weapons could be similarly advantageous – the proliferation of marine organisms on those in the Bay of Lübeck is probable to be duplicated in other locations.

Between 1946 and 1948, 1.6 million tonnes of munitions were discarded off the Germany's coast. Thousands of individuals transported them in boats; a portion were deposited in designated sites, others just discarded at sea during transport. This is the first time scientists have recorded how ocean organisms has reacted.

Worldwide Instances of Ocean Adaptation

• In the United States, decommissioned oil and gas structures have turned into marine habitats
• Sunken ships from the World War I have become habitats for wildlife along the Potomac River in the state of Maryland
• Tank tracks that have become habitat to reef-building organisms off Asan beach in Guam

These places become even more crucial for wildlife as the oceans are increasingly stripped by fishing, bottom trawling and anchoring. Shipwrecks and explosive disposal locations effectively serve as protected areas – they are not official reserves, but nearly any kind of human activity is banned, says Vedenin. As a result a many of species that are usually scarce or diminishing, such as the cod fish, are flourishing.

Future Issues

Anywhere armed conflict has happened in the last century, nearby oceans are usually littered with munitions, explains Vedenin. Many millions of tonnes of dangerous substances rest in our oceans.

The locations of these munitions are insufficiently documented, in part because of sovereign limits, classified defense data and the fact that records are stored in historic archives. They create an detonation and safety danger, as well as danger from the continuous release of toxic chemicals.

As Germany and different states embark on extracting these artifacts, experts plan to preserve the habitats that have developed in their vicinity. In the Bay of Lübeck explosives are presently being removed.

Researchers recommend replace these iron structures originating from munitions with certain safer, various non-dangerous objects, like perhaps concrete structures, states Vedenin.

He presently hopes that what happens in Lübeck sets a precedent for replacing material after weapon clearance in other locations – because even the most destructive weaponry can become framework for marine organisms.