Nazi Munitions, Torpedoes and Mines: How Ocean Creatures Prosper on Discarded Armaments

In the slightly salty sea off the German shoreline rests a wasteland of World War II explosives, torpedoes and mines. Thrown off barges at the end of the World War II and left behind, countless explosives have become matted together over the decades. They create a corroding carpet on the low-depth, silty seafloor of the Bay of Lübeck in the western part of the Baltic Sea.

Over the decades, the Nazi arsenal was ignored and neglected. A increasing amount of tourists traveled to the sandy beaches and tranquil sea for jetskiing, kite surfing and entertainment venues. Beneath the surface, the weapons decayed.

Researchers anticipated to see a barren area, with no organisms because it was all poisoned, says a scientist.

When the first scientists went searching to see what they were affecting to the ecosystem, some of us thought they would find a barren area, with no life because it was all poisoned, says the lead researcher.

What they observed amazed them. Vedenin recounts his team members reacting with shock when the submersible first relayed pictures. It was a great moment, he notes.

Thousands of marine animals had established habitats among the explosives, developing a revitalized marine community denser than the seabed surrounding it.

This marine city was proof to the resilience of life. Truly remarkable how much marine organisms we discover in places that are expected to be hazardous and risky, he explains.

In excess of 40 starfish had gathered on to one accessible chunk of explosive material. They were living on metal shells, fuse pockets and carrying containers just a short distance from its dangerous content. Marine fish, crustaceans, sea anemones and mussels were all observed on the historic weapons. You could compare it with a marine reef in terms of the quantity of fauna that was inhabiting the area, says Vedenin.

Remarkable Creature Concentration

An average of more than forty thousand animals were living on every meter squared of the weapons, experts wrote in their study on the finding. The adjacent region was much less diverse, with only eight thousand individuals on every square metre.

It is ironic that things that are designed to eliminate everything are drawing so much marine organisms, explains Vedenin. You can see how nature adapts after a catastrophic event such as the World War II and how, in some way, marine life returns to the most hazardous locations.

Man-made Structures as Ocean Habitats

Man-made constructions such as shipwrecks, wind turbines, oil rigs and pipelines can create substitutes, replacing some of the removed marine environment. This investigation reveals that munitions could be similarly beneficial – the explosion of life on those in the Bay of Lübeck is probable to be duplicated in different areas.

Between 1946 and 1948, 1.6m tons of munitions were dumped off the Germany's coast. Countless of workers placed them in boats; some were placed in allocated areas, others just dumped en route. This is the first time scientists have recorded how ocean organisms has adapted.

Worldwide Examples of Marine Adaptation

• In the US, retired energy installations have become marine habitats
• Submerged vessels from the World War I have become habitats for creatures along the Potomac in the state of Maryland
• Tank tracks that have become environment to coral off Asan beach in Guam

These areas become even more valuable for wildlife as the oceans are increasingly depleted by fishing, seafloor dredging and boat mooring. Shipwrecks and munitions areas effectively act as sanctuaries – they are not official reserves, but nearly any kind of anthropogenic disturbance is banned, explains Vedenin. Therefore a lot of marine species that are otherwise rare or declining, such as the Baltic cod, are thriving.

Coming Factors

Anywhere armed conflict has happened in the recent history, adjacent waters are typically containing explosives, says Vedenin. Millions of tons of volatile compounds rest in our marine environments.

The locations of these munitions are insufficiently documented, partly because of sovereign limits, secret armed forces records and the fact that archives are buried in old files. They create an explosion and security danger, as well as risk from the persistent release of poisonous compounds.

As the German government and additional nations embark on clearing these remains, scientists plan to safeguard the habitats that have formed nearby. In the Lübeck Bay munitions are already being removed.

We should substitute these metal carcasses left from weapons with certain less dangerous, some safe objects, like possibly man-made habitats, says Vedenin.

He currently hopes that what occurs in the Bay of Lübeck creates a model for substituting structures after weapon clearance in different areas – because also the most damaging weaponry can become foundation for ocean ecosystems.