Nazi Explosives, Torpedo Heads and Naval Mines: How Ocean Creatures Prosper on Abandoned Weapons

In the slightly salty waters off the German coast lies a collection of Nazi bombs, torpedoes and naval mines. Dumped from barges at the end of the World War II and neglected, countless weapons have accumulated over the years. They create a corroding carpet on the shallow, silty seafloor of the Bay of Lübeck in the western tip of the Baltic.

Over the decades, the Nazi arsenal was overlooked and neglected. A increasing amount of tourists came to the sandy beaches and tranquil sea for jetskiing, kiteboarding and amusement parks. Below the waves, the munitions deteriorated.

We initially expected to see a lifeless zone, with nothing living there because it was all contaminated, says the lead researcher.

When the first scientists went searching to see what they were affecting to the marine environment, the team anticipated finding a lifeless zone, with nothing living there because it was all poisoned, says a scientist.

What they discovered surprised them. Vedenin remembers his team members shouting with surprise when the underwater vehicle first relayed pictures. It was a remarkable experience, he recalls.

Numerous of ocean life had established habitats among the weapons, creating a revitalized marine community more populous than the sea floor surrounding it.

This ocean community was proof to the resilience of life. It is actually astonishing how much marine organisms we observe in locations that are supposed to be toxic and risky, he says.

In excess of 40 sea stars had piled on to one visible fragment of explosive material. They were living on iron containers, fuse pockets and storage boxes just centimetres from its explosive filling. Marine fish, crabs, anemones and bivalves were all observed on the old munitions. It's similar to a reef ecosystem in terms of the abundance of fauna that was there, says Vedenin.

Remarkable Population Density

An mean of more than forty thousand creatures were dwelling on every meter squared of the weapons, researchers wrote in their paper on the discovery. The adjacent region was much sparser, with only 8,000 individuals on every meter squared.

It is paradoxical that items that are intended to kill all life are drawing so much life, states Vedenin. You can see how nature evolves after a major disaster such as the second world war and how, in some way, life establishes itself to the most dangerous locations.

Artificial Structures as Ocean Environments

Man-made features such as shipwrecks, offshore windfarms, oil rigs and undersea pipes can provide alternatives, restoring some of the lost marine environment. This study demonstrates that munitions could be similarly advantageous – the proliferation of marine organisms on those in the Lübeck Bay is likely to be duplicated elsewhere.

Between 1946 and 1948, 1.6m tons of weapons were discarded off the Germany's shoreline. Thousands of people placed them in barges; some were dropped in designated locations, others just discarded at sea during transport. This is the first time experts have documented how ocean organisms has reacted.

Worldwide Examples of Ocean Transformation

• In the United States, decommissioned drilling platforms have turned into reef ecosystems
• Shipwrecks from the World War I have become habitats for marine life along the Potomac in Maryland
• Tank tracks that have become home to coral off Asan in Guam

These locations become even more important for wildlife as the marine environments are increasingly stripped by fishing, seafloor dredging and boat mooring. Sunken ships and weapons dump sites practically function as refuges – they are not national parks, but virtually any kind of human activity is banned, says Vedenin. As a result a lot of organisms that are otherwise rare or declining, such as the cod fish, are prospering.

Future Factors

Wherever military conflict has taken place in the last century, adjacent waters are usually strewn with weapons, explains Vedenin. Many millions of tonnes of explosive material remain in our oceans.

The positions of these weapons are insufficiently documented, partially because of national borders, restricted defense data and the fact that archives are hidden in historical records. They pose an explosion and safety danger, as well as risk from the ongoing release of poisonous compounds.

As Germany and additional nations start clearing these relics, scientists plan to protect the ecosystems that have established around them. In the Lübeck Bay munitions are already being removed.

We should substitute these iron structures remaining from munitions with some less dangerous, some non-dangerous structures, like perhaps artificial reefs, states Vedenin.

He presently wishes that what occurs in the Bay of Lübeck sets a precedent for substituting material after weapon clearance in different areas – because even the most harmful armaments can become framework for marine organisms.