Nazi Munitions, Torpedoes and Mines: The Way Marine Life Prosper on Dumped Weapons

In the brackish waters off the German coast sits a collection of Nazi bombs, torpedoes and mines. Discarded from barges at the end of the second world war and forgotten about, thousands munitions have become matted together over the years. They comprise a rusting layer on the low-depth, muddy seafloor of the Lübeck Bay in the western part of the Baltic Sea.

Over the decades, the Nazi arsenal was ignored and forgotten about. A growing number of visitors flocked to the sandy beaches and tranquil sea for jetskiing, kite surfing and amusement parks. Below the waves, the weapons deteriorated.

We initially anticipated to see a desert, with no organisms because it was all toxic, says the lead researcher.

When the first scientists went looking to see what they were doing to the marine environment, some of us thought they would find a desert, with no organisms because it was all poisoned, explains Andrey Vedenin.

What they observed amazed them. Vedenin recounts his team members shouting with surprise when the underwater vehicle first sent the images back. It was a great moment, he recalls.

Thousands of sea creatures had made their homes on the weapons, forming a revitalized marine community more populous than the ocean bottom around it.

This underwater metropolis was testament to the persistence of life. Truly astonishing how much life we discover in locations that are supposed to be dangerous and harmful, he explains.

More than 40 sea stars had piled on to one accessible chunk of explosive material. They were living on metal shells, detonator compartments and carrying containers just centimetres from its dangerous content. Marine fish, crustaceans, sea anemones and mussels were all found on the historic weapons. It resembles a reef ecosystem in terms of the amount of animal life that was inhabiting the area, says Vedenin.

Surprising Population Density

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

It is paradoxical that objects that are intended to eliminate everything are attracting so much life, says Vedenin. One can observe how nature adapts after a catastrophic event such as the second world war and how, in some way, life finds its way to the most risky places.

Artificial Structures as Marine Habitats

Artificial constructions such as sunken vessels, wind turbines, oil rigs and pipelines can offer substitutes, restoring some of the lost marine environment. This study reveals that weapons could be comparably positive – the explosion of marine organisms on those in the Bay of Lübeck is probable to be duplicated in different areas.

Between 1946 and 1948, 1.6m tonnes of munitions were dumped off the German shoreline. Countless of people loaded them in vessels; some were placed in allocated 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 Transformation

• In the United States, retired energy installations have turned into coral reefs
• Submerged vessels from the first world war have become environments for creatures along the Potomac in Maryland
• Tank tracks that have become environment to reef-building organisms off Asan in Guam

These locations become even more important for organisms as the seas are increasingly denuded by commercial fishing, bottom trawling and anchoring. Sunken ships and munitions areas effectively function as protected areas – they are not national parks, but virtually any kind of anthropogenic disturbance is restricted, states Vedenin. As a result a lot of species that are otherwise rare or declining, such as the Baltic cod, are flourishing.

Coming Considerations

Anywhere military conflict has taken place in the recent history, nearby oceans are often strewn with weapons, says Vedenin. Millions of tonnes of explosive material rest in our marine environments.

The sites of these weapons are inadequately mapped, in part because of international boundaries, restricted military information and the fact that documents are hidden in historical records. They present an detonation and safety risk, as well as danger from the persistent leakage of toxic chemicals.

As Germany and different states begin removing these relics, experts aim to protect the habitats that have formed nearby. In the Bay of Lübeck explosives are currently being removed.

We should substitute these metal carcasses originating from munitions with certain less dangerous, various harmless structures, like perhaps concrete structures, states Vedenin.

He now aspires that what occurs in the Bay of Lübeck establishes a example for substituting material after munitions removal in other locations – because also the most destructive weaponry can become framework for marine organisms.