Nazi Explosives, Torpedoes and Naval Mines: The Way Marine Life Flourishes on Discarded Armaments

In the slightly salty waters off the Germany's coast lies a wasteland of Nazi bombs, torpedo heads and mines. Dumped from vessels at the conclusion of the second world war and forgotten about, numerous explosives have accumulated over the decades. They create a rusting blanket on the shallow, silty ocean floor of the Bay of Lübeck in the western part of the Baltic.

Over the years, the explosive stockpile was overlooked and neglected. A growing number of tourists flocked to the coastal areas and calm waters for jetskiing, kiteboarding and entertainment venues. Underwater, the weapons deteriorated.

We initially expected to see a barren area, with no organisms because it was all contaminated, states Andrey Vedenin.

When the initial researchers went searching to see what they were doing to the ecosystem, some of us expected to see a desert, with no life because it was all contaminated, states the lead researcher.

What they found astonished them. Vedenin recalls his colleagues exclaiming in amazement when the underwater vehicle first transmitted footage. This was a remarkable experience, he notes.

Thousands of sea creatures had settled amid the weapons, creating a renewed marine community denser than the sea floor around it.

This marine city was evidence to the persistence of life. Truly remarkable how much life we find in areas that are supposed to be toxic and risky, he explains.

In excess of 40 sea stars had clustered on to one exposed fragment of explosive material. They were dwelling on steel casings, ignition chambers and transport cases just centimetres from its explosive filling. Fish, crabs, anemones and bivalves were all found on the old munitions. You could compare it with a coral reef in terms of the amount of creatures that was inhabiting the area, says Vedenin.

Surprising Population Density

An average of more than 40,000 organisms were residing on every meter squared of the explosives, experts reported in their study on the observation. The nearby seabed was much less diverse, with only eight thousand individuals on every square metre.

It is surprising that things that are meant to destroy everything are drawing so much marine organisms, states Vedenin. You can see how nature adjusts after a devastating occurrence such as the World War II and how, in certain respects, marine life returns to the most dangerous locations.

Man-made Structures as Ocean Environments

Man-made structures such as shipwrecks, offshore windfarms, drilling platforms and undersea pipes can offer replacements, compensating for some of the destroyed habitat. This investigation demonstrates that weapons could be equally positive – the bloom of marine organisms on those in the Lübeck Bay is expected to be found in different areas.

Between 1946 and 1948, 1.6 million tonnes of arms were dumped off the Germany's coast. Thousands of people transported them in vessels; some were placed in specific areas, the remainder just thrown overboard en route. This is the first time researchers have studied how ocean organisms has reacted.

Global Examples of Marine Transformation

• In the United States, decommissioned drilling platforms have turned into coral reefs
• Sunken ships from the World War I have become environments for marine life along the Potomac in the state of Maryland
• Military vehicle parts that have become habitat to reef-building organisms off Asan in the Pacific island

These areas become even more important for organisms as the seas are increasingly depleted by commercial fishing, bottom trawling and anchoring. Shipwrecks and explosive disposal locations essentially act as refuges – they are not official reserves, but almost any kind of human activity is prohibited, says Vedenin. As a result a numerous of marine species that are usually rare or decreasing, such as the cod fish, are thriving.

Coming Considerations

Anywhere military conflict has taken place in the recent history, nearby oceans are usually littered with munitions, states Vedenin. Many millions of tons of explosive material rest in our oceans.

The locations of these weapons are inadequately recorded, partly because of national borders, secret military information and the fact that archives are hidden in historical records. They present an detonation and security danger, as well as danger from the ongoing leakage of poisonous compounds.

As Germany and different states begin removing these relics, experts plan to preserve the ecosystems that have established nearby. In the Lübeck Bay explosives are already being removed.

It would be wise to substitute these iron structures originating from weapons with certain less dangerous, some safe objects, like maybe man-made habitats, suggests Vedenin.

He now wishes that what happens in the Bay of Lübeck sets a model for substituting material after explosive extraction elsewhere – because also the most destructive weaponry can become framework for ocean ecosystems.