Nazi Bombs, Torpedo Heads and Naval Mines: How Marine Life Flourishes on Abandoned Armaments

In the brackish waters off the German coast lies a graveyard of Nazi bombs, torpedoes and naval mines. Thrown off barges at the end of the second world war and left behind, thousands munitions have accumulated over the decades. They comprise a corroding carpet on the shallow, silty seafloor of the Bay of Lübeck in the western tip of the Baltic Sea.

Over the decades, the Nazi arsenal was ignored and neglected. A increasing amount of tourists traveled to the coastal areas and calm waters for jetskiing, kite surfing and amusement parks. Below the waves, the munitions eroded.

We initially expected to see a lifeless zone, with nothing living there because it was all poisoned, says Andrey Vedenin.

When the team went searching to see what they were affecting to the ecosystem, the team expected to see a desert, with no life because it was all contaminated, says the lead researcher.

What they observed surprised them. Vedenin recounts his scientists shouting with surprise when the submersible first relayed pictures. It was a memorable occasion, he recalls.

Thousands of marine animals had established habitats amid the munitions, forming a regenerated habitat denser than the seabed surrounding it.

This marine city was proof to the resilience of life. Truly surprising how much marine organisms we observe in areas that are considered hazardous and risky, he states.

In excess of 40 sea stars had gathered on to one accessible chunk of TNT. They were dwelling on metal shells, detonator compartments and transport cases just a short distance from its explosive filling. Marine fish, crustaceans, anemones and bivalves were all observed on the historic weapons. It's similar to a marine reef in terms of the quantity of creatures that was inhabiting the area, says Vedenin.

Surprising Population Density

An average of more than forty thousand animals were living on every square metre of the explosives, researchers documented in their study on the finding. The adjacent region was much poorer in life, with only 8,000 creatures on every meter squared.

It is ironic that objects that are intended to kill all life are hosting so much life, says Vedenin. You can see how nature evolves after a catastrophic event such as the World War II and how, in some way, marine life finds its way to the most hazardous locations.

Artificial Features as Ocean Environments

Artificial constructions such as sunken vessels, offshore windfarms, drilling platforms and pipelines can create alternatives, restoring some of the lost marine environment. This investigation shows that munitions could be comparably beneficial – the explosion of marine organisms on those in the Bay of Lübeck is expected to be duplicated elsewhere.

Between the late 1940s and 1948, 1.6 million tons of weapons were dumped off the Germany's shoreline. Countless of people loaded them in boats; a portion were deposited in specific areas, the remainder just thrown overboard en route. This is the initial instance researchers have recorded how marine life has adapted.

Worldwide Instances of Marine Adaptation

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

These locations become even more valuable for wildlife as the oceans are increasingly denuded by fishing, seafloor dredging and boat mooring. Shipwrecks and explosive disposal locations practically function as sanctuaries – they are not official reserves, but nearly any kind of anthropogenic disturbance is banned, explains Vedenin. Consequently a many of marine species that are otherwise rare or diminishing, such as the Baltic cod, are flourishing.

Coming Issues

Wherever military conflict has taken place in the recent history, nearby oceans are often containing munitions, says Vedenin. Millions of tonnes of dangerous substances remain in our seas.

The positions of these munitions are inadequately mapped, in part because of sovereign limits, secret military information and the reality that records are buried in historical records. They present an explosion and safety risk, as well as risk from the ongoing leakage of poisonous compounds.

As Germany and other countries begin clearing these relics, scientists hope to safeguard the marine communities that have established around them. In the Lübeck Bay munitions are presently being removed.

It would be wise to substitute these steel remains remaining from weapons with certain safer, various non-dangerous materials, like perhaps man-made habitats, says Vedenin.

He currently aspires that what transpires in Lübeck creates a precedent for replacing structures after weapon clearance elsewhere – because including the most damaging armaments can become foundation for marine organisms.