Nazi Bombs, Torpedoes and Mines: How Ocean Creatures Prosper on Discarded Weapons

In the slightly salty sea off the German shoreline lies a collection of World War II explosives, torpedoes and naval mines. Dumped from vessels at the end of the second world war and left behind, thousands explosives have become matted together over the years. They comprise a corroding layer on the low-depth, silty ocean floor of the Lübeck Bay in the western tip of the Baltic.

Over the decades, the explosive stockpile was ignored and neglected. A growing number of tourists came to the coastal areas and calm waters for water sports, kite surfing and entertainment venues. Below the waves, the weapons deteriorated.

We initially anticipated to see a lifeless zone, with nothing living there because it was all contaminated, explains Andrey Vedenin.

When the initial researchers went investigating to see what they were doing to the marine environment, researchers expected to see a desert, with no life because it was all poisoned, states the lead researcher.

What they discovered surprised them. Vedenin recalls his team members reacting with shock when the ROV first relayed pictures. That moment was a memorable occasion, he recalls.

Countless of ocean life had settled amid the explosives, developing a revitalized habitat richer than the ocean bottom surrounding it.

This underwater metropolis was proof to the resilience of life. Indeed surprising how much marine organisms we observe in locations that are supposed to be hazardous and harmful, he explains.

More than 40 sea stars had clustered on to one exposed piece of explosive material. They were residing on iron containers, fuse pockets and transport cases just a short distance from its volatile core. Fish, crabs, sea anemones and bivalves were all observed on the old munitions. You could compare it with a coral reef in terms of the amount of creatures that was there, says Vedenin.

Remarkable Population Density

An mean of more than forty thousand organisms were dwelling on every meter squared of the weapons, scientists reported in their research on the finding. The surrounding area was much less diverse, with only eight thousand creatures on every square metre.

It is paradoxical that objects that are designed to kill everything are attracting so much life, states Vedenin. One can observe how the natural world evolves after a major disaster such as the second world war and how, in some way, life establishes itself to the most dangerous locations.

Man-made Features as Marine Habitats

Artificial constructions such as sunken vessels, offshore windfarms, oil rigs and undersea pipes can offer alternatives, compensating for some of the lost habitat. This investigation reveals that weapons could be comparably beneficial – the explosion of life on those in the Lübeck Bay is expected to be duplicated in different areas.

Between the late 1940s and the post-war period, 1.6 million tons of munitions were disposed of off the German coast. Thousands of individuals loaded them in boats; a portion were deposited in designated sites, the remainder just discarded at sea during transport. This is the first time experts have documented how marine life has adapted.

Worldwide Examples of Marine Transformation

• In the US, decommissioned drilling platforms have transformed into marine habitats
• Shipwrecks from the World War I have become environments for creatures along the Potomac River in Maryland
• Military vehicle parts that have become habitat to coral off Asan in the Pacific island

These areas become even more valuable for wildlife as the marine environments are increasingly depleted by commercial fishing, seafloor dredging and boat mooring. Shipwrecks and weapons dump sites essentially serve as sanctuaries – they are not official reserves, but virtually any kind of human activity is banned, states Vedenin. Therefore a many of organisms that are usually scarce or decreasing, such as the Baltic cod, are thriving.

Future Factors

Wherever military conflict has occurred in the last century, adjacent waters are usually containing weapons, states Vedenin. Millions of tons of explosive material rest in our marine environments.

The locations of these weapons are insufficiently mapped, in part because of international boundaries, secret defense data and the situation that records are buried in historical records. They pose an detonation and safety danger, as well as risk from the continuous leakage of hazardous substances.

As the German government and other countries begin removing these relics, researchers plan to preserve the marine communities that have formed nearby. In the Lübeck Bay explosives are presently being cleared.

It would be wise to replace these iron structures originating from weapons with some safer, some safe materials, like possibly artificial reefs, states Vedenin.

He now aspires that what transpires in Lübeck establishes a precedent for substituting habitats after munitions removal in different areas – because even the most damaging weaponry can become scaffolding for new life.