Nazi Munitions, Torpedoes and Naval Mines: How Ocean Creatures Thrives on Dumped Armaments

In the brackish sea off the Germany's coast sits a graveyard of World War II explosives, torpedo heads and naval mines. Dumped from boats at the end of the second world war and forgotten about, countless weapons have accumulated over the years. They create a decaying blanket on the shallow, silty ocean floor of the Lübeck Bay in the western part of the Baltic.

Over the decades, the explosive stockpile was ignored and neglected. A increasing amount of tourists came to the sandy beaches and tranquil sea for water sports, kite surfing and amusement parks. Below the waves, the weapons decayed.

We initially thought to see a lifeless zone, with no organisms because it was all toxic, says Andrey Vedenin.

When the team went investigating to see what they were doing to the ecosystem, researchers expected to see a desert, with no life because it was all poisoned, says a scientist.

What they observed amazed them. Vedenin remembers his team members shouting with surprise when the submersible first relayed pictures. It was a memorable occasion, he recalls.

Countless of ocean life had established habitats amid the weapons, creating a revitalized habitat denser than the ocean bottom surrounding it.

This underwater metropolis was evidence to the resilience of life. Truly astonishing how much life we observe in locations that are considered hazardous and harmful, he explains.

More than 40 sea stars had gathered on to one accessible fragment of explosive material. They were residing on metal shells, fuse pockets and transport cases just a short distance from its dangerous content. Marine fish, crustaceans, sea anemones and mussels were all observed on the historic weapons. You could compare it with a marine reef in terms of the abundance of animal life that was inhabiting the area, states Vedenin.

Surprising Population Density

An mean of more than 40,000 animals were dwelling on every square metre of the explosives, researchers documented in their paper on the finding. The surrounding area was much poorer in life, with only eight thousand individuals on every square metre.

It is surprising that things that are meant to destroy all life are attracting so much life, says Vedenin. You can see how nature evolves after a catastrophic event such as the second world war and how, in certain respects, life establishes itself to the most risky locations.

Man-made Features as Ocean Environments

Man-made structures such as shipwrecks, wind turbines, drilling platforms and pipelines can provide substitutes, restoring some of the destroyed marine environment. This investigation shows that weapons could be similarly beneficial – the proliferation of marine organisms on those in the Lübeck Bay is expected to be repeated in different areas.

Between 1946 and 1948, 1.6m tons of weapons were dumped off the Germany's coast. Thousands of individuals transported them in barges; some were dropped in specific locations, others just thrown overboard during transport. This is the first time scientists have recorded how marine life has adapted.

Worldwide Instances of Ocean Adaptation

• In the US, decommissioned oil and gas structures have transformed into coral reefs
• Sunken ships from the first world war have become environments for creatures 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 locations become even more important for marine life as the seas are increasingly stripped by fishing, seafloor dredging and boat mooring. Sunken ships and weapons dump sites effectively serve as protected areas – they are not official reserves, but nearly any kind of human activity is restricted, states Vedenin. As a result a lot of species that are usually uncommon or decreasing, such as the Baltic cod, are prospering.

Coming Factors

Wherever armed conflict has taken place in the recent history, nearby oceans are usually strewn with munitions, states Vedenin. Many millions of tonnes of volatile compounds remain in our marine environments.

The locations of these explosives are poorly recorded, in part because of national borders, classified defense data and the reality that records are stored in historical records. They present an detonation and safety risk, as well as risk from the ongoing leakage of poisonous compounds.

As Germany and other countries start extracting these artifacts, researchers aim to protect the habitats that have established in their vicinity. In the Bay of Lübeck munitions are currently being removed.

We should substitute these metal carcasses remaining from weapons with certain safer, some non-dangerous materials, like maybe concrete structures, says Vedenin.

He presently wishes that what occurs in Lübeck creates a example for substituting material after explosive extraction in different areas – because also the most damaging armaments can become framework for ocean ecosystems.