Nazi Munitions, Torpedoes and Naval Mines: How Ocean Creatures Thrives on Abandoned Weapons

In the brackish waters off the German coast sits a collection of Nazi bombs, torpedoes and naval mines. Discarded from barges at the end of the second world war and forgotten about, thousands munitions have accumulated over the decades. They create a corroding layer on the shallow, silty seafloor of the Bay of Lübeck in the western tip of the Baltic.

Over the years, the explosive stockpile was ignored and forgotten about. A growing number of tourists traveled to the sandy beaches and tranquil sea for water sports, kite surfing and amusement parks. Below the waves, the weapons decayed.

We initially thought to see a lifeless zone, with no organisms because it was all toxic, says Andrey Vedenin.

When the initial researchers went looking to see what they were affecting to the marine environment, the team anticipated finding a barren area, with no life because it was all contaminated, states the lead researcher.

What they observed amazed them. Vedenin recalls his scientists exclaiming in amazement when the submersible first transmitted footage. That moment was a great moment, he says.

Thousands of marine animals had made their homes on the munitions, creating a revitalized marine community denser than the seabed around it.

This marine city was testament to the persistence of life. Truly remarkable how much marine organisms we find in areas that are expected to be toxic and risky, he says.

Over 40 sea stars had clustered on to one visible chunk of TNT. They were living on metal shells, fuse pockets and storage boxes just centimetres from its explosive filling. Fish, crustaceans, anemones and bivalves were all found on the old munitions. You could compare it with a marine reef in terms of the amount of creatures that was there, notes Vedenin.

Remarkable Population Density

An mean of more than forty thousand animals were dwelling on every meter squared of the explosives, experts documented in their study on the discovery. The nearby seabed was much less diverse, with only 8,000 creatures on every meter squared.

It is paradoxical that objects that are intended to kill everything are attracting so much life, explains Vedenin. You can see how nature adjusts after a devastating occurrence such as the World War II and how, in some way, life establishes itself to the most hazardous places.

Artificial Structures as Marine Habitats

Man-made structures such as sunken vessels, wind turbines, oil rigs and pipelines can provide substitutes, compensating for some of the removed marine environment. This investigation shows that weapons could be comparably beneficial – the explosion of marine organisms on those in the Lübeck Bay is expected to be repeated in other locations.

Between 1946 and 1948, 1.6m tons of munitions were disposed of off the German shoreline. Thousands of workers loaded them in boats; a portion were placed in allocated areas, others just dumped en route. This is the first time researchers have recorded how ocean organisms has reacted.

Global Instances of Marine Transformation

• In the United States, retired drilling platforms have turned into marine habitats
• Submerged vessels from the World War I have become homes for creatures along the Potomac in Maryland
• Military vehicle parts that have become habitat to coral off Asan beach in Guam

These areas become even more important for marine life as the oceans are increasingly stripped by commercial fishing, seafloor dredging and anchoring. Sunken ships and explosive disposal locations practically function as protected areas – they are not official reserves, but virtually any kind of anthropogenic disturbance is banned, says Vedenin. Consequently a numerous of marine species that are typically uncommon or declining, such as the cod fish, are prospering.

Future Factors

Wherever military conflict has happened in the past 100 years, adjacent waters are often strewn with munitions, states Vedenin. Millions of tons of explosive material lie in our oceans.

The locations of these munitions are inadequately documented, partly because of international boundaries, restricted defense data and the reality that documents are stored in historical records. They pose an detonation and security risk, as well as threat from the ongoing leakage of hazardous substances.

As the German government and additional nations start removing these relics, scientists plan to protect the ecosystems that have developed nearby. In the Lübeck Bay explosives are presently being extracted.

It would be wise to substitute these iron structures originating from weapons with certain safer, some non-dangerous materials, like maybe concrete structures, suggests Vedenin.

He currently wishes that what occurs in the Bay of Lübeck establishes a model for substituting material after munitions removal in different areas – because even the most damaging weaponry can become scaffolding for new life.