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

In the slightly salty waters off the Germany's coast rests a collection of World War II explosives, torpedo heads and naval mines. Discarded from barges at the end of the second world war and left behind, countless explosives have accumulated over the decades. They form a decaying layer on the shallow, silty seafloor of the Bay of Lübeck in the western tip of the Baltic Sea.

Over the decades, the wartime weapons was ignored and neglected. A growing number of tourists flocked to the coastal areas and calm waters for jetskiing, kite surfing and amusement parks. Underwater, the munitions deteriorated.

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

When the team went searching to see what they were doing to the ecosystem, the team anticipated finding a barren area, with nothing living there because it was all toxic, states the lead researcher.

What they found astonished them. Vedenin remembers his team members reacting with shock when the submersible first transmitted footage. It was a memorable occasion, he recalls.

Countless of marine animals had made their homes amid the weapons, creating a regenerated habitat richer than the sea floor nearby.

This ocean community was proof to the resilience of marine life. It is actually astonishing how much marine organisms we find in places that are considered dangerous and risky, he states.

More than 40 sea stars had gathered on to one visible chunk of explosive material. They were dwelling on iron containers, ignition chambers and storage boxes just a short distance from its dangerous content. Marine fish, crustaceans, anemones and mussels were all found on the historic weapons. It resembles a reef ecosystem in terms of the quantity of fauna that was present, states Vedenin.

Surprising Creature Concentration

An average of more than 40,000 organisms were residing on every meter squared of the munitions, researchers documented in their research on the observation. The surrounding area was much sparser, with only 8,000 individuals on every square metre.

It is paradoxical that things that are designed to eliminate everything are attracting so much life, says Vedenin. It's evident how nature evolves after a major disaster such as the second world war and how, in certain respects, life returns to the most risky places.

Artificial Features as Ocean Habitats

Man-made structures such as sunken vessels, wind turbines, oil rigs and undersea pipes can offer substitutes, replacing some of the lost habitat. This study reveals that weapons could be comparably advantageous – the bloom of marine organisms on those in the Lübeck Bay is likely to be found elsewhere.

Between the late 1940s and the post-war period, 1.6m tons of munitions were discarded off the Germany's coast. Thousands of people transported them in vessels; a portion were placed in specific areas, others just discarded at sea en route. This is the initial instance experts have studied how ocean organisms has reacted.

Worldwide Examples of Marine Adaptation

• In the US, retired oil and gas structures have turned into coral reefs
• Sunken ships from the World War I have become environments for wildlife along the Potomac in the state of Maryland
• Military vehicle parts that have become home to reef-building organisms off Asan beach in the Pacific island

These areas become even more important for organisms as the oceans are increasingly depleted by commercial fishing, seafloor dredging and anchoring. Sunken ships and weapons dump sites practically act as protected areas – they are not official reserves, but virtually any kind of human activity is prohibited, says Vedenin. Therefore a many of species that are usually uncommon or declining, such as the Baltic cod, are thriving.

Future Considerations

Anywhere warfare has occurred in the recent history, nearby oceans are often strewn with explosives, states Vedenin. Millions of tons of dangerous substances rest in our oceans.

The sites of these explosives are poorly documented, in part because of national borders, classified defense data and the fact that archives are stored in old files. They create an explosion and security risk, as well as threat from the ongoing emission of poisonous compounds.

As the German government and additional nations start removing these remains, researchers hope to safeguard the ecosystems that have established in their vicinity. In the Bay of Lübeck munitions are currently being cleared.

Researchers recommend substitute these steel remains originating from munitions with certain safer, various safe structures, like possibly artificial reefs, says Vedenin.

He now hopes that what happens in the Bay of Lübeck sets a precedent for replacing structures after explosive extraction elsewhere – because even the most damaging armaments can become scaffolding for marine organisms.