Nazi Munitions, Torpedo Heads and Naval Mines: The Way Ocean Creatures Prosper on Dumped Armaments

In the slightly salty waters off the German shoreline lies a graveyard of World War II explosives, torpedo heads and naval mines. Discarded from vessels at the conclusion of the World War II and left behind, numerous weapons have become matted together over the years. They comprise a corroding carpet on the shallow, silty seafloor of the Lübeck Bay in the western part of the Baltic.

Over the years, the Nazi arsenal was ignored and forgotten about. A increasing amount of visitors traveled to the coastal areas and tranquil sea for jetskiing, kite surfing and entertainment venues. Beneath the surface, the weapons deteriorated.

Some of us anticipated to see a lifeless zone, with no organisms because it was all poisoned, explains a scientist.

When the team went looking to see what they were affecting to the marine environment, the team anticipated finding a desert, with no life because it was all poisoned, explains a scientist.

What they found surprised them. Vedenin recalls his colleagues exclaiming in amazement when the submersible first relayed pictures. That moment was a memorable occasion, he says.

Countless of sea creatures had established habitats among the weapons, forming a regenerated habitat denser than the ocean bottom around it.

This underwater metropolis was evidence to the tenacity of marine life. It is actually astonishing how much life we observe in locations that are expected to be dangerous and risky, he says.

Over 40 starfish had piled on to one exposed piece of TNT. They were dwelling on iron containers, ignition chambers and storage boxes just centimetres from its dangerous content. Fish, crustaceans, anemones and mussels were all found on the discarded explosives. It resembles a reef ecosystem in terms of the abundance of creatures that was there, states Vedenin.

Unexpected Creature Concentration

An average of more than forty thousand organisms were residing on every meter squared of the munitions, experts documented in their paper on the finding. The nearby seabed was much sparser, with only 8,000 creatures on every square metre.

It is surprising that things that are meant to eliminate all life are hosting so much marine organisms, says Vedenin. One can observe how nature evolves after a devastating occurrence such as the World War II and how, in some way, marine life finds its way to the most dangerous locations.

Man-made Structures as Ocean Environments

Man-made constructions such as shipwrecks, offshore windfarms, drilling platforms and pipelines can create alternatives, compensating for some of the destroyed habitat. This study reveals that weapons could be equally positive – the proliferation of marine organisms on those in the Lübeck Bay is likely to be repeated elsewhere.

Between the late 1940s and the post-war period, 1.6m tonnes of weapons were disposed of off the Germany's coast. Thousands of workers transported them in boats; a portion were placed in designated locations, others just thrown overboard during transport. This is the first time scientists have studied how ocean organisms has adapted.

Global Examples of Marine Adaptation

• In the US, retired oil and gas structures have become marine habitats
• Shipwrecks from the first world war have become homes for marine life along the Potomac River in the state of Maryland
• Tank tracks that have become environment to coral off Asan beach in the Pacific island

These areas become even more crucial for marine life as the oceans are increasingly stripped by fishing, bottom trawling and boat mooring. Sunken ships and explosive disposal locations essentially serve as refuges – they are not national parks, but nearly any kind of anthropogenic disturbance is banned, states Vedenin. Consequently a many of organisms that are usually rare or declining, such as the Baltic cod, are prospering.

Future Issues

Anywhere military conflict has taken place in the recent history, nearby oceans are typically containing explosives, explains Vedenin. Millions of tons of volatile compounds remain in our seas.

The positions of these explosives are insufficiently documented, in part because of sovereign limits, secret military information and the fact that documents are buried in old files. They present an explosion and safety hazard, as well as threat from the persistent release of poisonous compounds.

As the German government and other countries start extracting these relics, experts hope to protect the marine communities that have established nearby. In the Lübeck Bay munitions are already being cleared.

Researchers recommend replace these iron structures remaining from munitions with certain less dangerous, various harmless objects, like possibly concrete structures, states Vedenin.

He currently wishes that what happens in Lübeck establishes a precedent for substituting structures after munitions removal in different areas – because including the most harmful weaponry can become foundation for marine organisms.