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

In the brackish waters off the German shoreline rests a collection of World War II explosives, torpedo heads and naval mines. Dumped from vessels at the conclusion of the second world war and forgotten about, numerous munitions have fused into clusters over the decades. They create a corroding layer on the shallow, silty ocean floor of the Lübeck Bay in the western tip of the Baltic.

Over the years, the Nazi arsenal was ignored and forgotten about. A increasing amount of visitors came to the coastal areas and calm waters for jetskiing, kite surfing and amusement parks. Beneath the surface, the weapons eroded.

We initially expected to see a lifeless zone, with no organisms because it was all contaminated, states Andrey Vedenin.

When the initial researchers went investigating to see what they were doing to the marine environment, the team thought they would find a barren area, with no life because it was all poisoned, explains Andrey Vedenin.

What they discovered amazed them. Vedenin recalls his team members reacting with shock when the ROV first relayed pictures. This was a memorable occasion, he notes.

Numerous of sea creatures had established habitats amid the munitions, developing a renewed ecosystem denser than the seabed nearby.

This marine city was proof to the resilience of marine life. Truly astonishing how much marine organisms we find in areas that are considered hazardous and risky, he explains.

In excess of 40 starfish had gathered on to one visible chunk of explosive material. They were residing on iron containers, detonator compartments and storage boxes just a short distance from its explosive filling. Marine fish, crabs, anemones and bivalves were all discovered on the old munitions. You could compare it with a marine reef in terms of the quantity of fauna that was there, notes Vedenin.

Surprising Population Density

An mean of more than forty thousand creatures were dwelling on every square metre of the explosives, experts reported in their paper on the discovery. The adjacent region was much less diverse, with only eight thousand creatures on every square metre.

It is surprising that objects that are meant to kill all life are hosting so much life, explains Vedenin. One can observe how the natural world evolves after a devastating occurrence such as the second world war and how, in certain respects, life finds its way to the most hazardous areas.

Artificial Features as Ocean Habitats

Man-made features such as shipwrecks, wind turbines, drilling platforms and undersea pipes can create alternatives, restoring some of the destroyed marine environment. This investigation shows that explosives could be comparably positive – the proliferation of marine organisms on those in the Lübeck Bay is expected to be repeated in other locations.

Between 1946 and the post-war period, 1.6m tonnes of weapons were disposed of off the German coast. Thousands of individuals loaded them in boats; some were deposited in designated locations, others just discarded at sea while traveling. This is the first time researchers have recorded how marine life has reacted.

Global Instances of Ocean Adaptation

• In the US, retired oil and gas structures have become coral reefs
• 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 environment to reef-building organisms off Asan in the Pacific island

These areas become even more crucial for wildlife as the oceans are increasingly depleted by commercial fishing, seafloor dredging and boat mooring. Shipwrecks and explosive disposal locations practically serve as refuges – they are not official reserves, but nearly any kind of anthropogenic disturbance is banned, states Vedenin. Therefore a numerous of marine species that are otherwise rare or declining, such as the cod fish, are flourishing.

Coming Issues

Wherever warfare has occurred in the last century, surrounding seas are often containing explosives, says Vedenin. Many millions of tons of volatile compounds lie in our marine environments.

The locations of these munitions are poorly documented, in part because of international boundaries, secret military information and the reality that documents are hidden in old files. They pose an detonation and security danger, as well as danger from the ongoing emission of poisonous compounds.

As the German government and additional nations begin clearing these remains, experts aim to preserve the marine communities that have developed in their vicinity. In the Bay of Lübeck weapons are already being removed.

We should replace these metal carcasses left from munitions with some less dangerous, some harmless objects, like possibly artificial reefs, says Vedenin.

He presently aspires that what happens in Lübeck establishes a precedent for replacing structures after weapon clearance in other locations – because including the most destructive explosives can become framework for ocean ecosystems.