Nazi Munitions, Torpedoes and Naval Mines: The Way Marine Life Flourishes on Discarded Weapons

In the brackish waters off the Germany's coast rests a collection of World War II explosives, torpedo heads and naval mines. Dumped from barges at the end of the World War II and neglected, numerous munitions have become matted together over the years. They create a corroding carpet on the low-depth, silty seafloor of the Bay of Lübeck in the western part of the Baltic.

Over the years, the explosive stockpile was overlooked and forgotten about. A growing number of visitors flocked to the sandy beaches and calm waters for water sports, kite surfing and entertainment venues. Underwater, the munitions decayed.

Researchers thought to see a lifeless zone, with no life because it was all poisoned, states the lead researcher.

When the team went searching to see what they were affecting to the marine environment, the team thought they would find a desert, with no life because it was all toxic, states Andrey Vedenin.

What they found astonished them. Vedenin remembers his scientists reacting with shock when the underwater vehicle first relayed pictures. This was a memorable occasion, he says.

Countless of ocean life had made their homes among the munitions, creating a regenerated habitat denser than the seabed around it.

This underwater metropolis was testament to the tenacity of life. Indeed surprising how much marine organisms we observe in places that are considered dangerous and harmful, he explains.

Over 40 sea stars had clustered on to one exposed chunk of explosive material. They were dwelling on steel casings, detonator compartments and transport cases just a short distance from its dangerous content. Marine fish, crustaceans, sea anemones and bivalves were all discovered on the old munitions. You could compare it with a reef ecosystem in terms of the amount of animal life that was inhabiting the area, says Vedenin.

Unexpected Population Density

An average of more than forty thousand animals were dwelling on every meter squared of the explosives, experts wrote in their study on the finding. The nearby seabed was much poorer in life, with only 8,000 organisms on every meter squared.

It is surprising that things that are intended to destroy all life are attracting so much life, says Vedenin. You can see how the natural world adjusts after a catastrophic event such as the second world war and how, in certain respects, life returns to the most dangerous places.

Artificial Features as Marine Habitats

Artificial constructions such as sunken vessels, wind turbines, drilling platforms and undersea pipes can create replacements, replacing some of the destroyed marine environment. This investigation shows that weapons could be comparably positive – the proliferation of life on those in the Lübeck Bay is expected to be found elsewhere.

Between the late 1940s and 1948, 1.6m tons of weapons were dumped off the Germany's shoreline. Numerous of individuals placed them in boats; a portion were placed in specific locations, others just dumped while traveling. This is the initial instance experts have documented how marine life has responded.

Worldwide Examples of Ocean Adaptation

• In the United States, decommissioned energy installations have turned into reef ecosystems
• Submerged vessels from the World War I have become environments for wildlife along the Potomac River in Maryland
• Tank tracks that have become home to reef-building organisms off Asan beach in Guam

These places become even more valuable for organisms as the seas are increasingly depleted by commercial fishing, seafloor dredging and anchoring. Sunken ships and munitions areas essentially act as protected areas – they are not official reserves, but almost any kind of human activity is restricted, states Vedenin. Consequently a numerous of species that are typically scarce or decreasing, such as the cod fish, are prospering.

Future Issues

Anywhere warfare has taken place in the last century, surrounding seas are usually littered with weapons, says Vedenin. Millions of tons of volatile compounds remain in our seas.

The locations of these weapons are inadequately recorded, in part because of national borders, classified armed forces records and the reality that documents are buried in old files. They present an detonation and safety risk, as well as risk from the ongoing emission of toxic chemicals.

As the German government and other countries embark on removing these remains, experts aim to preserve the ecosystems that have established around them. In the Lübeck Bay explosives are currently being extracted.

We should replace these metal carcasses originating from munitions with some more secure, some harmless structures, like possibly man-made habitats, says Vedenin.

He presently aspires that what transpires in the Bay of Lübeck sets a example for substituting habitats after munitions removal elsewhere – because even the most harmful explosives can become scaffolding for ocean ecosystems.