Nazi Explosives, Torpedoes and Mines: How Marine Life Flourishes on Dumped Weapons

In the brackish sea off the German coast rests a graveyard of Nazi bombs, torpedoes and mines. Thrown off barges at the end of the World War II and neglected, numerous weapons have become matted together over the years. They create a corroding layer on the shallow, silty seafloor of the Lübeck Bay in the western part of the Baltic.

Over the decades, the explosive stockpile was ignored and forgotten about. A growing number of tourists traveled to the sandy beaches and calm waters for jetskiing, kite surfing and entertainment venues. Underwater, the weapons deteriorated.

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

When the initial researchers went looking to see what they were affecting to the marine environment, some of us anticipated finding a barren area, with no organisms because it was all poisoned, states Andrey Vedenin.

What they discovered surprised them. Vedenin recounts his team members shouting with surprise when the submersible first sent the images back. This was a remarkable experience, he says.

Numerous of marine animals had established habitats among the weapons, developing a renewed habitat denser than the seabed surrounding it.

This ocean community was evidence to the persistence of life. Truly surprising how much life we discover in places that are expected to be dangerous and dangerous, he says.

In excess of 40 starfish had clustered on to one visible fragment of TNT. They were living on metal shells, fuse pockets and storage boxes just centimetres from its explosive filling. Marine fish, crabs, sea anemones and bivalves were all observed on the discarded explosives. It's similar to a marine reef in terms of the amount of creatures that was there, says Vedenin.

Unexpected Creature Concentration

An average of more than forty thousand animals were dwelling on every meter squared of the explosives, researchers documented in their study on the observation. The surrounding area was much less diverse, with only eight thousand creatures on every square metre.

It is ironic that items that are intended to eliminate all life are drawing so much life, says Vedenin. One can observe how the natural world adapts after a catastrophic event such as the second world war and how, in some way, marine life finds its way to the most dangerous areas.

Artificial Features as Ocean Environments

Man-made constructions such as sunken vessels, offshore windfarms, oil rigs and pipelines can create alternatives, restoring some of the removed marine environment. This study demonstrates that explosives could be similarly positive – the explosion of life on those in the Lübeck Bay is likely to be found elsewhere.

Between the late 1940s and 1948, 1.6 million tons of arms were disposed of off the Germany's coast. Countless of workers placed them in boats; some were dropped in specific areas, others just dumped during transport. This is the initial instance researchers have recorded how marine life has responded.

Worldwide Instances of Marine Adaptation

• In the United States, decommissioned energy installations have turned into coral reefs
• Shipwrecks from the first world war have become habitats for creatures along the Potomac River in Maryland
• Military vehicle parts that have become habitat to reef-building organisms off Asan in the Pacific island

These locations become even more crucial for organisms as the seas are increasingly stripped by commercial fishing, bottom trawling and anchoring. Sunken ships and munitions areas essentially act as sanctuaries – they are not official reserves, but almost any kind of human activity is banned, says Vedenin. As a result a many of marine species that are otherwise uncommon or diminishing, such as the Baltic cod, are flourishing.

Future Issues

Wherever warfare has occurred in the recent history, adjacent waters are typically strewn with weapons, says Vedenin. Many millions of tons of volatile compounds rest in our seas.

The positions of these weapons are inadequately documented, partially because of national borders, restricted military information and the reality that archives are stored in historical records. They create an explosion and safety hazard, as well as danger from the ongoing leakage of poisonous compounds.

As Germany and additional nations embark on removing these remains, researchers aim to preserve the ecosystems that have established around them. In the Bay of Lübeck explosives are currently being cleared.

Researchers recommend substitute these steel remains originating from weapons with certain less dangerous, some safe materials, like maybe man-made habitats, states Vedenin.

He now hopes that what occurs in Lübeck creates a precedent for replacing material after weapon clearance in different areas – because even the most harmful armaments can become scaffolding for ocean ecosystems.