Nazi Munitions, Torpedoes and Mines: The Way Ocean Creatures Prosper on Dumped Armaments

In the brackish sea off the Germany's shoreline lies a collection of Nazi bombs, torpedo heads and naval mines. Discarded from barges at the conclusion of the World War II and forgotten about, thousands weapons have fused into clusters over the decades. They create a rusting carpet on the low-depth, silty seafloor of the Bay of Lübeck in the western tip of the Baltic.

Over the years, the explosive stockpile was ignored and neglected. A increasing amount of visitors came to the sandy beaches and calm waters for water sports, kiteboarding and amusement parks. Underwater, the munitions decayed.

Some of us expected to see a desert, with nothing living there because it was all contaminated, explains the lead researcher.

When the first scientists went investigating to see what they were doing to the marine environment, researchers expected to see a desert, with nothing living there because it was all contaminated, explains the lead researcher.

What they observed amazed them. Vedenin recalls his colleagues exclaiming in amazement when the submersible first transmitted footage. This was a remarkable experience, he recalls.

Countless of marine animals had settled among the explosives, creating a revitalized marine community more populous than the sea floor surrounding it.

This underwater metropolis was proof to the persistence of marine life. It is actually astonishing how much marine organisms we discover in locations that are supposed to be dangerous and dangerous, he explains.

In excess of 40 sea stars had piled on to one visible chunk of TNT. They were living on metal shells, fuse pockets and storage boxes just centimetres from its explosive filling. Marine fish, crustaceans, sea anemones and bivalves were all found on the discarded explosives. You could compare it with a coral reef in terms of the abundance of fauna that was inhabiting the area, says Vedenin.

Remarkable Population Density

An average of more than forty thousand creatures were living on every meter squared of the munitions, scientists wrote in their paper on the observation. The surrounding area was much poorer in life, with only eight thousand individuals on every meter squared.

It is paradoxical that things that are intended to eliminate everything are attracting so much marine organisms, states Vedenin. You can see how nature adjusts after a major disaster such as the second world war and how, in certain respects, marine life returns to the most dangerous locations.

Artificial Structures as Ocean Environments

Man-made structures such as shipwrecks, offshore windfarms, oil rigs and undersea pipes can offer substitutes, replacing some of the lost marine environment. This study shows that munitions could be equally beneficial – the explosion of life on those in the Bay of Lübeck is likely to be found elsewhere.

Between the late 1940s and 1948, 1.6 million tons of munitions were disposed of off the German coast. Numerous of people placed them in barges; some were deposited in designated locations, others just dumped while traveling. This is the first time experts have recorded how ocean organisms has reacted.

Global Examples of Marine Transformation

• In the United States, retired energy installations have become marine habitats
• Submerged vessels from the World War I have become habitats 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 locations become even more crucial for wildlife as the oceans are increasingly depleted by fishing, bottom trawling and boat mooring. Sunken ships and explosive disposal locations effectively act as protected areas – they are not national parks, but almost any kind of anthropogenic disturbance is restricted, states Vedenin. Therefore a lot of species that are usually rare or diminishing, such as the Baltic cod, are prospering.

Future Considerations

Wherever military conflict has occurred in the last century, surrounding seas are usually strewn with munitions, says Vedenin. Millions of tonnes of explosive material remain in our seas.

The locations of these explosives are poorly mapped, partially because of international boundaries, secret military information and the fact that documents are hidden in old files. They create an detonation and security risk, as well as danger from the ongoing leakage of toxic chemicals.

As the German government and additional nations start clearing these remains, experts aim to preserve the marine communities that have established nearby. In the Bay of Lübeck explosives are presently being extracted.

We should substitute these iron structures remaining from weapons with some less dangerous, various safe structures, like maybe man-made habitats, says Vedenin.

He now wishes that what happens in the Bay of Lübeck sets a example for replacing habitats after munitions removal elsewhere – because even the most harmful armaments can become framework for marine organisms.