Nazi Bombs, Torpedo Heads and Mines: How Marine Life Flourishes on Abandoned Weapons

In the slightly salty waters off the Germany's shoreline rests a graveyard of Nazi bombs, torpedo heads and mines. Thrown off barges at the end of the second world war and left behind, countless explosives have fused into clusters over the decades. They form a decaying layer on the shallow, silty seafloor of the Bay of Lübeck in the western tip of the Baltic Sea.

Over the decades, the explosive stockpile was ignored and neglected. A growing number of tourists came to the sandy beaches and tranquil sea for water sports, kiteboarding and entertainment venues. Below the waves, the munitions decayed.

We initially anticipated to see a lifeless zone, with no life because it was all contaminated, says a scientist.

When the first scientists went investigating to see what they were affecting to the marine environment, the team expected to see a desert, with no organisms because it was all contaminated, explains a scientist.

What they observed surprised them. Vedenin recalls his scientists exclaiming in amazement when the submersible first sent the images back. This was a remarkable experience, he notes.

Countless of marine animals had settled among the explosives, forming a renewed ecosystem denser than the sea floor surrounding it.

This marine city was proof to the persistence of life. Indeed astonishing how much life we discover in places that are considered toxic and risky, he says.

Over 40 sea stars had clustered on to one exposed piece of TNT. They were dwelling on iron containers, fuse pockets and storage boxes just a short distance from its volatile core. Marine fish, crabs, sea anemones and bivalves were all discovered on the old munitions. You could compare it with a marine reef in terms of the quantity of fauna that was inhabiting the area, states Vedenin.

Surprising Population Density

An mean of more than forty thousand organisms were living on every meter squared of the explosives, researchers reported in their study on the discovery. The surrounding area was much poorer in life, with only eight thousand creatures on every square metre.

It is surprising that items that are designed to eliminate all life are attracting so much marine organisms, states Vedenin. One can observe how nature evolves after a catastrophic event such as the World War II and how, in certain respects, life finds its way to the most risky places.

Man-made Structures as Ocean Environments

Artificial structures such as shipwrecks, offshore windfarms, oil rigs and pipelines can provide replacements, restoring some of the destroyed marine environment. This investigation reveals that weapons could be equally advantageous – the bloom of marine organisms on those in the Lübeck Bay is probable to be duplicated in other locations.

Between the late 1940s and the post-war period, 1.6m tons of munitions were discarded off the Germany's coast. Numerous of individuals transported them in vessels; some were deposited in allocated locations, others just dumped en route. This is the first time experts have studied how marine life has responded.

Worldwide Instances of Ocean Transformation

• In the US, decommissioned drilling platforms have become marine habitats
• Sunken ships from the World War I have become homes for creatures along the Potomac in the state of Maryland
• Tank tracks that have become habitat to coral off Asan in the Pacific island

These locations become even more valuable for marine life as the marine environments are increasingly stripped by fishing, seafloor dredging and boat mooring. Sunken ships and weapons dump sites effectively function as refuges – they are not national parks, but nearly any kind of anthropogenic disturbance is restricted, states Vedenin. Consequently a lot of marine species that are typically scarce or diminishing, such as the cod fish, are flourishing.

Coming Factors

Wherever armed conflict has occurred in the past 100 years, adjacent waters are usually containing explosives, states Vedenin. Millions of tonnes of dangerous substances remain in our seas.

The locations of these explosives are insufficiently recorded, in part because of international boundaries, classified defense data and the fact that records are hidden in old files. They pose an detonation and security danger, as well as risk from the persistent emission of hazardous substances.

As Germany and different states embark on clearing these artifacts, experts aim to safeguard the habitats that have formed around them. In the Bay of Lübeck weapons are presently being extracted.

Researchers recommend substitute these iron structures originating from munitions with some safer, some non-dangerous materials, like maybe artificial reefs, states Vedenin.

He now wishes that what occurs in Lübeck creates a model for substituting structures after munitions removal in different areas – because even the most destructive weaponry can become foundation for ocean ecosystems.