Nazi Munitions, Torpedo Heads and Mines: The Way Ocean Creatures Thrives on Dumped Weapons

In the brackish sea off the Germany's shoreline sits a graveyard of Nazi bombs, torpedoes and naval mines. Dumped from vessels at the end of the second world war and neglected, numerous weapons have fused into clusters over the years. They create a corroding layer on the shallow, silty ocean floor of the Lübeck Bay in the western part of the Baltic.

Over the years, the Nazi arsenal was overlooked and forgotten about. A growing number of visitors flocked to the coastal areas and calm waters for jetskiing, kiteboarding and entertainment venues. Underwater, the weapons deteriorated.

Some of us expected to see a barren area, with nothing living there because it was all toxic, says the lead researcher.

When the first scientists 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 a scientist.

What they observed surprised them. Vedenin remembers his team members reacting with shock when the underwater vehicle first transmitted footage. It was a remarkable experience, he recalls.

Countless of ocean life had made their homes among the munitions, developing a regenerated marine community denser than the sea floor nearby.

This underwater metropolis was proof to the persistence of marine life. Truly surprising how much life we observe in areas that are supposed to be toxic and dangerous, he states.

In excess of 40 sea stars had piled on to one visible fragment of explosive material. They were dwelling on steel casings, fuse pockets and storage boxes just centimetres from its dangerous content. Fish, crabs, anemones and bivalves were all observed on the historic weapons. It resembles a coral reef in terms of the quantity of animal life that was present, says Vedenin.

Unexpected Population Density

An average of more than 40,000 animals were residing on every meter squared of the munitions, scientists wrote in their study on the finding. The adjacent region was much sparser, with only eight thousand organisms on every meter squared.

It is ironic that items that are designed to eliminate all life are attracting so much life, says Vedenin. You can see how the natural world evolves after a catastrophic event such as the World War II and how, in some way, marine life finds its way to the most hazardous areas.

Artificial Features as Marine Habitats

Man-made features such as sunken vessels, wind turbines, oil rigs and undersea pipes can provide alternatives, restoring some of the destroyed marine environment. This investigation shows that weapons could be similarly beneficial – the proliferation of life on those in the Bay of Lübeck is probable to be duplicated elsewhere.

Between 1946 and the post-war period, 1.6m tonnes of munitions were disposed of off the Germany's shoreline. Numerous of people transported them in boats; some were dropped in specific areas, others just thrown overboard en route. This is the initial instance researchers have documented how marine life has responded.

Worldwide Examples of Ocean Transformation

• In the United States, retired energy installations have turned into marine habitats
• Shipwrecks from the World War I have become homes for marine life along the Potomac River in Maryland
• Tank tracks that have become habitat to coral off Asan beach in the Pacific island

These areas become even more valuable for marine life as the seas are increasingly depleted by commercial fishing, seafloor dredging and boat mooring. Shipwrecks and weapons dump sites practically act as sanctuaries – they are not official reserves, but almost any kind of anthropogenic disturbance is restricted, states Vedenin. As a result a many of marine species that are usually rare or diminishing, such as the cod fish, are flourishing.

Future Factors

Anywhere military conflict has taken place in the recent history, adjacent waters are typically strewn with weapons, says Vedenin. Millions of tonnes of dangerous substances lie in our seas.

The locations of these weapons are inadequately documented, in part because of national borders, restricted military information and the fact that archives are buried in historical records. They pose an detonation and safety hazard, as well as risk from the continuous emission of poisonous compounds.

As Germany and different states begin removing these remains, experts plan to safeguard the ecosystems that have developed around them. In the Bay of Lübeck weapons are presently being extracted.

It would be wise to substitute these metal carcasses remaining from weapons with certain more secure, various non-dangerous objects, like perhaps man-made habitats, says Vedenin.

He now wishes that what occurs in the Bay of Lübeck creates a example for replacing structures after explosive extraction in different areas – because also the most destructive armaments can become framework for new life.