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

In the slightly salty sea off the German shoreline rests a wasteland of Nazi bombs, torpedoes and naval mines. Thrown off boats at the end of the World War II and left behind, thousands munitions have become matted together over the years. They comprise a corroding blanket on the shallow, silty ocean floor of the Bay of Lübeck in the western part of the Baltic.

Over the decades, the wartime weapons was overlooked and neglected. A increasing amount of tourists came to the coastal areas and calm waters for jetskiing, kiteboarding and entertainment venues. Below the waves, the munitions deteriorated.

We initially expected to see a lifeless zone, with no organisms because it was all contaminated, states the lead researcher.

When the team went looking to see what they were doing to the marine environment, researchers thought they would find a lifeless zone, with nothing living there because it was all poisoned, states Andrey Vedenin.

What they found astonished them. Vedenin recalls his scientists shouting with surprise when the submersible first transmitted footage. This was a memorable occasion, he notes.

Thousands of marine animals had established habitats amid the weapons, forming a renewed habitat richer than the sea floor around it.

This marine city was testament to the tenacity of marine life. It is actually remarkable how much marine organisms we find in places that are expected to be toxic and risky, he states.

In excess of 40 sea stars had gathered on to one visible piece of TNT. They were dwelling on iron containers, detonator compartments and carrying containers just centimetres from its explosive filling. Marine fish, crustaceans, sea anemones and bivalves were all found on the old munitions. It's similar to a reef ecosystem in terms of the abundance of fauna that was present, says Vedenin.

Surprising Population Density

An average of more than 40,000 animals were dwelling on every square metre of the munitions, researchers wrote in their research on the observation. The adjacent region was much less diverse, with only eight thousand organisms on every meter squared.

It is ironic that things that are meant to kill all life are attracting so much life, explains Vedenin. One can observe how the natural world evolves after a devastating occurrence such as the World War II and how, in some way, life returns to the most hazardous locations.

Artificial Structures as Ocean Habitats

Man-made features such as shipwrecks, wind turbines, oil rigs and pipelines can offer alternatives, compensating for some of the destroyed habitat. This investigation shows that weapons could be similarly advantageous – the proliferation of marine organisms on those in the Bay of Lübeck is likely to be duplicated in other locations.

Between 1946 and 1948, 1.6 million tons of weapons were dumped off the Germany's shoreline. Countless of individuals loaded them in vessels; a portion were deposited in allocated sites, the remainder just discarded at sea en route. This is the first time experts have documented how ocean organisms has adapted.

Worldwide Examples of Marine Adaptation

• In the US, decommissioned oil and gas structures have transformed into reef ecosystems
• Sunken ships from the World War I have become homes for wildlife along the Potomac in the state of Maryland
• Military vehicle parts that have become habitat to reef-building organisms off Asan beach in Guam

These places become even more valuable for wildlife as the seas are increasingly stripped by fishing, bottom trawling and boat mooring. Sunken ships and munitions areas effectively function as sanctuaries – they are not official reserves, but virtually any kind of human activity is banned, says Vedenin. As a result a numerous of organisms that are otherwise scarce or diminishing, such as the Baltic cod, are flourishing.

Coming Factors

Anywhere armed conflict has taken place in the last century, surrounding seas are usually strewn with weapons, says Vedenin. Many millions of tons of volatile compounds rest in our oceans.

The positions of these weapons are inadequately mapped, in part because of international boundaries, restricted armed forces records and the fact that archives are stored in historical records. They present an explosion and safety hazard, as well as threat from the persistent emission of poisonous compounds.

As the German government and different states start extracting these artifacts, experts aim to preserve the marine communities that have developed nearby. In the Bay of Lübeck munitions are presently being removed.

It would be wise to substitute these steel remains remaining from weapons with some safer, some safe structures, like maybe artificial reefs, suggests Vedenin.

He now aspires that what transpires in Lübeck sets a example for replacing material after explosive extraction in other locations – because also the most destructive weaponry can become foundation for marine organisms.