Nazi Explosives, Torpedo Heads and Naval Mines: How Marine Life Prosper on Discarded Armaments

In the slightly salty sea off the Germany's coast rests a collection of Nazi bombs, torpedoes and naval mines. Dumped from vessels at the conclusion of the second world war and neglected, numerous explosives have become matted together over the decades. They create a corroding layer on the shallow, muddy ocean floor of the Bay of Lübeck in the western tip of the Baltic.

Over the years, the Nazi arsenal was overlooked and neglected. A increasing amount of visitors flocked to the sandy beaches and calm waters for water sports, kite surfing and amusement parks. Below the waves, the weapons deteriorated.

Some of us expected to see a desert, with no organisms because it was all toxic, explains a scientist.

When the team went searching to see what they were doing to the ecosystem, some of us anticipated finding a barren area, with no organisms because it was all toxic, explains the lead researcher.

What they discovered amazed them. Vedenin recalls his scientists reacting with shock when the submersible first transmitted footage. It was a great moment, he says.

Thousands of sea creatures had settled on the weapons, creating a renewed habitat denser than the ocean bottom surrounding it.

This ocean community was testament to the resilience of marine life. It is actually surprising how much life we find in locations that are considered hazardous and harmful, he says.

In excess of 40 starfish had piled on to one accessible piece of TNT. They were living on steel casings, detonator compartments and carrying containers just a short distance from its dangerous content. Marine fish, crustaceans, anemones and bivalves were all discovered on the old munitions. You could compare it with a coral reef in terms of the abundance of creatures that was inhabiting the area, states Vedenin.

Surprising Creature Concentration

An average of more than forty thousand animals were dwelling on every meter squared of the munitions, scientists documented in their research on the discovery. The nearby seabed was much poorer in life, with only eight thousand organisms on every square metre.

It is ironic that things that are intended to destroy everything are hosting so much life, explains Vedenin. You can see how nature adapts after a major disaster such as the second world war and how, in certain respects, life establishes itself to the most hazardous areas.

Artificial Structures as Ocean Environments

Man-made features such as shipwrecks, offshore windfarms, oil rigs and pipelines can offer replacements, restoring some of the lost marine environment. This research shows that weapons could be similarly advantageous – the proliferation of marine organisms on those in the Lübeck Bay is expected to be repeated elsewhere.

Between 1946 and 1948, 1.6m tons of arms were disposed of off the German shoreline. Thousands of workers transported them in vessels; some were dropped in allocated sites, the remainder just discarded at sea en route. This is the initial instance scientists have documented how ocean organisms has responded.

Worldwide Examples of Ocean Transformation

• In the United States, decommissioned drilling platforms have transformed into reef ecosystems
• Sunken ships from the first world war have become environments for marine life along the Potomac River in Maryland
• Military vehicle parts that have become home to reef-building organisms off Asan in the Pacific island

These locations become even more important for marine life as the marine environments are increasingly depleted by fishing, bottom trawling and boat mooring. Sunken ships and munitions areas essentially act as sanctuaries – they are not official reserves, but virtually any kind of anthropogenic disturbance is prohibited, states Vedenin. Consequently a many of organisms that are usually scarce or declining, such as the cod fish, are thriving.

Future Considerations

Anywhere warfare has occurred in the last century, adjacent waters are often strewn with munitions, explains Vedenin. Millions of tons of dangerous substances lie in our oceans.

The locations of these explosives are insufficiently mapped, partially because of national borders, restricted military information and the reality that records are stored in historic archives. They present an explosion and safety danger, as well as threat from the continuous release of poisonous compounds.

As the German government and other countries embark on removing these artifacts, researchers hope to preserve the marine communities that have established in their vicinity. In the Bay of Lübeck explosives are presently being removed.

It would be wise to replace these iron structures originating from weapons with some safer, some non-dangerous objects, like possibly man-made habitats, states Vedenin.

He presently wishes that what occurs in Lübeck creates a precedent for substituting structures after munitions removal in different areas – because including the most destructive explosives can become scaffolding for marine organisms.