Nazi Munitions, Torpedoes and Naval Mines: The Way Marine Life Prosper on Abandoned Armaments

In the slightly salty sea off the Germany's coast lies a graveyard of World War II explosives, torpedoes and mines. Thrown off boats at the end of the World War II and left behind, countless weapons have accumulated over the decades. They comprise a decaying blanket on the low-depth, muddy ocean floor of the Bay of Lübeck in the western part of the Baltic Sea.

Over the decades, the Nazi arsenal was overlooked and neglected. A growing number of visitors flocked to the sandy beaches and tranquil sea for water sports, kiteboarding and entertainment venues. Below the waves, the weapons deteriorated.

Researchers expected to see a barren area, with no life because it was all toxic, states Andrey Vedenin.

When the team went investigating to see what they were doing to the ecosystem, the team expected to see a lifeless zone, with no life because it was all poisoned, says Andrey Vedenin.

What they discovered astonished them. Vedenin remembers his scientists reacting with shock when the submersible first transmitted footage. It was a great moment, he notes.

Thousands of ocean life had made their homes amid the munitions, forming a revitalized marine community denser than the ocean bottom surrounding it.

This marine city was testament to the resilience of marine life. Truly astonishing how much life we observe in places that are expected to be dangerous and risky, he explains.

In excess of 40 sea stars had clustered on to one exposed fragment of TNT. They were dwelling on iron containers, fuse pockets and storage boxes just a short distance from its dangerous content. Marine fish, crustaceans, anemones and mussels were all discovered on the discarded explosives. It resembles a marine reef in terms of the abundance of creatures that was there, says Vedenin.

Surprising Creature Concentration

An mean of more than forty thousand animals were dwelling on every meter squared of the explosives, experts reported in their research on the observation. The adjacent region was much less diverse, with only 8,000 creatures on every meter squared.

It is paradoxical that items that are intended to eliminate all life are drawing so much life, explains Vedenin. You can see how nature adjusts after a devastating occurrence such as the World War II and how, in certain respects, life establishes itself to the most hazardous places.

Artificial Structures as Ocean Environments

Artificial structures such as shipwrecks, offshore windfarms, drilling platforms and pipelines can provide substitutes, compensating for some of the destroyed habitat. This investigation demonstrates that munitions could be equally advantageous – the explosion of life on those in the Bay of Lübeck is expected to be repeated elsewhere.

Between the late 1940s and the post-war period, 1.6 million tons of weapons were discarded off the Germany's shoreline. Countless of people transported them in barges; some were placed in designated locations, the remainder just thrown overboard en route. This is the first time researchers have documented how ocean organisms has reacted.

Global Examples of Marine Adaptation

• In the United States, decommissioned oil and gas structures have become marine habitats
• Shipwrecks from the first world war have become habitats for creatures along the Potomac River in the state of Maryland
• Tank tracks that have become habitat to reef-building organisms off Asan in Guam

These places become even more important for marine life as the marine environments are increasingly depleted by commercial fishing, bottom trawling and anchoring. Sunken ships and explosive disposal locations essentially act as sanctuaries – they are not official reserves, but almost any kind of anthropogenic disturbance is banned, states Vedenin. Consequently a many of marine species that are typically scarce or decreasing, such as the cod fish, are thriving.

Future Issues

Anywhere warfare has happened in the past 100 years, nearby oceans are usually containing weapons, explains Vedenin. Millions of tons of dangerous substances rest in our marine environments.

The locations of these weapons are insufficiently recorded, partly because of international boundaries, restricted military information and the situation that archives are hidden in old files. They create an explosion and security hazard, as well as danger from the continuous emission of poisonous compounds.

As Germany and additional nations begin removing these remains, scientists plan to safeguard the marine communities that have developed nearby. In the Bay of Lübeck weapons are already being extracted.

Researchers recommend substitute these iron structures remaining from munitions with some more secure, some safe materials, like perhaps artificial reefs, suggests Vedenin.

He presently hopes that what occurs in the Bay of Lübeck creates a model for substituting material after explosive extraction in other locations – because including the most destructive explosives can become foundation for marine organisms.