Nazi Bombs, Torpedo Heads and Mines: How Marine Life Thrives on Abandoned Armaments

In the brackish waters off the German shoreline sits a collection of Nazi bombs, torpedo heads and mines. Thrown off boats at the end of the second world war and neglected, countless munitions have fused into clusters over the years. They form a decaying blanket on the low-depth, muddy seafloor of the Lübeck Bay in the western tip of the Baltic.

Over the years, the Nazi arsenal was ignored and neglected. A increasing amount of tourists traveled to the coastal areas and calm waters for jetskiing, kite surfing and entertainment venues. Beneath the surface, the weapons eroded.

We initially thought to see a barren area, with nothing living there because it was all poisoned, explains a scientist.

When the team went searching to see what they were affecting to the ecosystem, some of us anticipated finding a barren area, with no life because it was all contaminated, states the lead researcher.

What they discovered surprised them. Vedenin recalls his scientists shouting with surprise when the ROV first sent the images back. This was a memorable occasion, he recalls.

Countless of sea creatures had made their homes among the munitions, creating a regenerated marine community richer than the seabed nearby.

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

More than 40 sea stars had gathered on to one accessible chunk of TNT. They were residing on metal shells, ignition chambers and storage boxes just centimetres from its volatile core. Fish, crustaceans, sea anemones and bivalves were all discovered on the historic weapons. You could compare it with a marine reef in terms of the quantity of fauna that was present, states Vedenin.

Remarkable Creature Concentration

An average of more than 40,000 creatures were living on every square metre of the explosives, scientists reported in their paper on the discovery. The nearby seabed was much less diverse, with only 8,000 organisms on every meter squared.

It is paradoxical that things that are designed to destroy all life are hosting so much marine organisms, explains Vedenin. It's evident how the natural world adjusts after a catastrophic event such as the World War II and how, in some way, life establishes itself to the most hazardous locations.

Artificial Structures as Marine Environments

Man-made features such as shipwrecks, offshore windfarms, oil rigs and pipelines can create substitutes, replacing some of the destroyed marine environment. This study shows that munitions could be similarly advantageous – the proliferation of life on those in the Lübeck Bay is expected to be found in other locations.

Between 1946 and the post-war period, 1.6m tonnes of munitions were disposed of off the German shoreline. Thousands of workers loaded them in boats; some were placed in allocated areas, others just thrown overboard while traveling. This is the initial instance researchers have documented how ocean organisms has adapted.

Worldwide Examples of Marine Transformation

• In the US, decommissioned drilling platforms have transformed into reef ecosystems
• Shipwrecks from the first world war have become homes for wildlife along the Potomac River in Maryland
• Military vehicle parts that have become environment to coral off Asan in the Pacific island

These locations become even more crucial for organisms as the oceans are increasingly stripped by commercial fishing, seafloor dredging and anchoring. Sunken ships and munitions areas essentially function as sanctuaries – they are not official reserves, but almost any kind of human activity is banned, says Vedenin. Therefore a numerous of species that are typically uncommon or declining, such as the Baltic cod, are prospering.

Coming Factors

Wherever military conflict has occurred in the recent history, surrounding seas are often littered with weapons, says Vedenin. Millions of tons of explosive material rest in our oceans.

The locations of these explosives are poorly documented, partly because of sovereign limits, classified armed forces records and the situation that archives are stored in historic archives. They present an explosion and security risk, as well as threat from the continuous leakage of poisonous compounds.

As the German government and other countries start extracting these artifacts, scientists plan to preserve the ecosystems that have developed around them. In the Lübeck Bay explosives are already being cleared.

Researchers recommend substitute these steel remains left from munitions with certain safer, some non-dangerous structures, like possibly man-made habitats, suggests Vedenin.

He presently hopes that what transpires in Lübeck creates a model for replacing structures after explosive extraction in different areas – because including the most harmful armaments can become foundation for marine organisms.