Nazi Bombs, Torpedo Heads and Mines: How Ocean Creatures Flourishes on Dumped Weapons

In the slightly salty sea off the German shoreline rests a graveyard of Nazi bombs, torpedo heads and naval mines. Discarded from barges at the conclusion of the World War II and left behind, thousands weapons have become matted together over the years. They create a decaying blanket on the low-depth, silty seafloor of the Bay of Lübeck in the western part of the Baltic.

Over the decades, the wartime weapons was ignored and forgotten about. A increasing amount of visitors traveled to the coastal areas and calm waters for water sports, kite surfing and entertainment venues. Beneath the surface, the weapons deteriorated.

Researchers expected to see a desert, with no life because it was all toxic, states the lead researcher.

When the first scientists went searching to see what they were doing to the marine environment, the team thought they would find a desert, with no life because it was all poisoned, states Andrey Vedenin.

What they found astonished them. Vedenin remembers his team members reacting with shock when the ROV first sent the images back. That moment was a remarkable experience, he notes.

Countless of sea creatures had established habitats amid the explosives, creating a regenerated marine community richer than the seabed nearby.

This underwater metropolis was evidence to the resilience of life. Indeed astonishing how much life we discover in locations that are expected to be hazardous and harmful, he says.

Over 40 starfish had piled on to one accessible chunk of explosive material. They were residing on steel casings, detonator compartments and transport cases just centimetres from its volatile core. Marine fish, crustaceans, sea anemones and mussels were all observed on the old munitions. You could compare it with a reef ecosystem in terms of the quantity of creatures that was inhabiting the area, notes Vedenin.

Remarkable Creature Concentration

An average of more than forty thousand organisms were dwelling on every square metre of the weapons, experts reported in their study on the finding. The surrounding area was much poorer in life, with only eight thousand individuals on every meter squared.

It is ironic that things that are designed to eliminate everything are attracting so much marine organisms, explains Vedenin. It's evident how the natural world adapts after a major disaster such as the World War II and how, in certain respects, marine life finds its way to the most hazardous places.

Man-made Structures as Ocean Environments

Man-made constructions such as shipwrecks, offshore windfarms, oil rigs and pipelines can create substitutes, restoring some of the removed marine environment. This investigation shows that munitions could be comparably positive – the bloom of life on those in the Bay of Lübeck is likely to be found in other locations.

Between 1946 and the post-war period, 1.6 million tons of weapons were discarded off the Germany's shoreline. Numerous of individuals loaded them in vessels; some were placed in allocated locations, the remainder just discarded at sea while traveling. This is the first time experts have documented how ocean organisms has responded.

Global Instances of Ocean Transformation

• In the US, retired oil and gas structures have become marine habitats
• Sunken ships from the World War I have become homes for wildlife along the Potomac River in the state of Maryland
• Tank tracks that have become home to coral off Asan in the Pacific island

These places become even more valuable for marine life as the seas are increasingly depleted by fishing, seafloor dredging and boat mooring. Sunken ships and explosive disposal locations effectively function as sanctuaries – they are not official reserves, but almost any kind of human activity is banned, explains Vedenin. Consequently a lot of species that are otherwise rare or diminishing, such as the Baltic cod, are flourishing.

Future Considerations

Anywhere armed conflict has occurred in the last century, adjacent waters are often littered with explosives, explains Vedenin. Many millions of tonnes of volatile compounds remain in our oceans.

The sites of these munitions are insufficiently documented, partly because of international boundaries, restricted defense data and the reality that archives are stored in old files. They pose an detonation and safety danger, as well as danger from the persistent leakage of poisonous compounds.

As the German government and additional nations embark on removing these artifacts, scientists plan to protect the marine communities that have developed in their vicinity. In the Bay of Lübeck munitions are currently being removed.

We should substitute these metal carcasses originating from munitions with certain more secure, some non-dangerous structures, like maybe artificial reefs, says Vedenin.

He now hopes that what happens in the Bay of Lübeck sets a example for substituting material after munitions removal in other locations – because also the most damaging armaments can become framework for ocean ecosystems.