Nazi Munitions, Torpedo Heads and Mines: The Way Marine Life Thrives on Dumped Weapons

In the slightly salty waters off the Germany's coast rests a graveyard of World War II explosives, torpedoes and naval mines. Discarded from boats at the end of the second world war and left behind, numerous explosives have accumulated over the decades. They create a corroding layer on the shallow, silty ocean floor of the Bay of Lübeck in the western part of the Baltic Sea.

Over the years, the explosive stockpile was overlooked and forgotten about. A increasing amount of tourists flocked to the sandy beaches and calm waters for water sports, kiteboarding and amusement parks. Below the waves, the weapons decayed.

We initially expected to see a lifeless zone, with nothing living there because it was all toxic, explains a scientist.

When the initial researchers went looking to see what they were doing to the marine environment, the team expected to see a lifeless zone, with no organisms because it was all poisoned, states the lead researcher.

What they found amazed them. Vedenin remembers his team members shouting with surprise when the underwater vehicle first sent the images back. That moment was a memorable occasion, he notes.

Numerous of sea creatures had established habitats on the weapons, developing a regenerated habitat richer than the sea floor nearby.

This underwater metropolis was testament to the persistence of marine life. It is actually surprising how much life we find in areas that are expected to be hazardous and risky, he says.

More than 40 sea stars had clustered on to one accessible fragment of explosive material. They were living on metal shells, detonator compartments and transport cases just a short distance from its volatile core. Fish, crustaceans, anemones and bivalves were all observed on the historic weapons. It's similar to a marine reef in terms of the amount of fauna that was there, states Vedenin.

Remarkable Creature Concentration

An average of more than forty thousand organisms were dwelling on every meter squared of the munitions, researchers reported in their paper on the finding. The adjacent region was much poorer in life, with only 8,000 individuals on every square metre.

It is paradoxical that things that are meant to kill everything are hosting so much marine organisms, explains Vedenin. It's evident how nature evolves after a catastrophic event such as the World War II and how, in some way, marine life finds its way to the most hazardous locations.

Artificial Features as Marine Habitats

Man-made constructions such as shipwrecks, wind turbines, oil rigs and pipelines can offer alternatives, replacing some of the lost marine environment. This research shows that weapons could be equally advantageous – the bloom of life on those in the Lübeck Bay is likely to be duplicated in different areas.

Between 1946 and 1948, 1.6m tons of munitions were discarded off the German shoreline. Countless of individuals transported them in boats; some were placed in designated areas, the remainder just dumped en route. This is the initial instance experts have recorded how marine life has responded.

Global Examples of Marine Adaptation

• In the US, retired drilling platforms have turned into marine habitats
• Shipwrecks from the World War I have become environments for marine life along the Potomac River in the state of Maryland
• Military vehicle parts that have become habitat to reef-building organisms off Asan in Guam

These areas become even more important for organisms as the oceans are increasingly stripped by commercial fishing, bottom trawling and anchoring. Shipwrecks and weapons dump sites practically serve as refuges – they are not national parks, but nearly any kind of anthropogenic disturbance is prohibited, says Vedenin. Consequently a many of marine species that are otherwise uncommon or declining, such as the Baltic cod, are flourishing.

Future Considerations

Wherever warfare has occurred in the last century, adjacent waters are typically littered with munitions, says Vedenin. Many millions of tons of explosive material lie in our marine environments.

The positions of these munitions are poorly recorded, in part because of national borders, classified defense data and the reality that documents are hidden in historic archives. They present an explosion and safety risk, as well as threat from the persistent leakage of toxic chemicals.

As Germany and additional nations begin extracting these relics, scientists aim to protect the ecosystems that have formed in their vicinity. In the Lübeck Bay munitions are presently being cleared.

We should substitute these metal carcasses remaining from weapons with some safer, various safe materials, like maybe man-made habitats, says Vedenin.

He now hopes that what happens in Lübeck sets a precedent for replacing habitats after munitions removal elsewhere – because including the most destructive explosives can become foundation for marine organisms.