Nazi Munitions, Torpedo Heads and Naval Mines: How Marine Life Prosper on Discarded Armaments

In the brackish waters off the German shoreline sits a collection of World War II explosives, torpedoes and naval mines. Dumped from vessels at the conclusion of the World War II and left behind, countless munitions have accumulated over the decades. They form a decaying layer on the low-depth, silty seafloor of the Bay of Lübeck in the western part of the Baltic.

Over the decades, the Nazi arsenal was ignored and forgotten about. A increasing amount of visitors flocked to the sandy beaches and calm waters for jetskiing, kite surfing and amusement parks. Underwater, the weapons eroded.

Some of us expected to see a barren area, with no life because it was all toxic, states a scientist.

When the team went looking to see what they were affecting to the ecosystem, some of us thought they would find a lifeless zone, with nothing living there because it was all poisoned, explains a scientist.

What they discovered amazed them. Vedenin recounts his colleagues reacting with shock when the ROV first relayed pictures. That moment was a remarkable experience, he recalls.

Thousands of ocean life had made their homes amid the explosives, creating a renewed habitat more populous than the seabed surrounding it.

This underwater metropolis was evidence to the persistence of life. It is actually astonishing how much marine organisms we discover in places that are considered toxic and risky, he says.

Over 40 sea stars had clustered on to one exposed fragment of explosive material. They were living on iron containers, ignition chambers and storage boxes just centimetres from its explosive filling. Marine fish, crustaceans, sea anemones and mussels were all found on the historic weapons. You could compare it with a reef ecosystem in terms of the quantity of animal life that was there, notes Vedenin.

Remarkable Creature Concentration

An mean of more than forty thousand animals were residing on every meter squared of the explosives, experts documented in their research on the discovery. The adjacent region was much poorer in life, with only eight thousand individuals on every square metre.

It is surprising that items that are meant to destroy everything are drawing so much life, states Vedenin. It's evident how the natural world evolves after a devastating occurrence such as the second world war and how, in some way, life finds its way to the most hazardous areas.

Artificial Structures as Ocean Environments

Man-made features such as sunken vessels, wind turbines, drilling platforms and pipelines can provide alternatives, restoring some of the lost marine environment. This research reveals that weapons could be equally beneficial – the explosion of life on those in the Bay of Lübeck is probable to be repeated in different areas.

Between 1946 and the post-war period, 1.6m tonnes of weapons were discarded off the Germany's shoreline. Numerous of individuals transported them in boats; some were placed in allocated locations, others just thrown overboard while traveling. This is the initial instance experts have documented how ocean organisms has reacted.

Worldwide Instances of Marine Transformation

• In the United States, decommissioned drilling platforms have become marine habitats
• Sunken ships from the first world war have become environments for creatures along the Potomac River in Maryland
• Military vehicle parts that have become home to coral off Asan beach in the Pacific island

These locations become even more valuable for wildlife as the oceans are increasingly depleted by fishing, seafloor dredging and anchoring. Shipwrecks and explosive disposal locations essentially function as sanctuaries – they are not official reserves, but virtually any kind of human activity is prohibited, explains Vedenin. Consequently a numerous of species that are otherwise scarce or declining, such as the Baltic cod, are prospering.

Coming Issues

Wherever armed conflict has occurred in the past 100 years, surrounding seas are usually containing explosives, states Vedenin. Many millions of tons of explosive material lie in our seas.

The sites of these munitions are insufficiently documented, partly because of sovereign limits, classified military information and the reality that records are hidden in old files. They present an explosion and security hazard, as well as danger from the continuous emission of poisonous compounds.

As the German government and different states begin extracting these remains, experts aim to protect the marine communities that have formed in their vicinity. In the Lübeck Bay weapons are presently being cleared.

We should replace these metal carcasses originating from weapons with some less dangerous, some safe materials, like possibly concrete structures, suggests Vedenin.

He now aspires that what transpires in the Bay of Lübeck creates a precedent for replacing material after weapon clearance in other locations – because including the most damaging weaponry can become foundation for ocean ecosystems.