Nazi Bombs, Torpedoes and Naval Mines: How Marine Life Flourishes on Discarded Weapons

In the slightly salty sea off the Germany's shoreline rests a collection of Nazi bombs, torpedo heads and mines. Discarded from vessels at the conclusion of the second world war and neglected, thousands explosives have accumulated over the decades. They comprise a rusting carpet on the low-depth, silty seafloor of the Lübeck Bay in the western part of the Baltic Sea.

Over the decades, the wartime weapons was ignored and forgotten about. A growing number of visitors flocked to the coastal areas and tranquil sea for jetskiing, kiteboarding and entertainment venues. Beneath the surface, the munitions deteriorated.

Researchers expected to see a barren area, with nothing living there because it was all toxic, says the lead researcher.

When the initial researchers went investigating to see what they were doing to the ecosystem, researchers anticipated finding a desert, with no organisms because it was all poisoned, explains a scientist.

What they observed astonished them. Vedenin recounts his team members shouting with surprise when the submersible first relayed pictures. This was a memorable occasion, he says.

Thousands of marine animals had established habitats on the weapons, developing a revitalized marine community richer than the seabed around it.

This marine city was proof to the persistence of marine life. Indeed remarkable how much marine organisms we find in places that are considered toxic and risky, he states.

In excess of 40 starfish had gathered on to one visible piece of explosive material. They were living on metal shells, ignition chambers and storage boxes just centimetres from its dangerous content. Marine fish, crustaceans, anemones and mussels 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 Population Density

An average of more than 40,000 organisms were residing on every square metre of the weapons, experts reported in their study on the discovery. The surrounding area was much sparser, with only eight thousand individuals on every square metre.

It is surprising that items that are intended to destroy everything are drawing so much life, states Vedenin. It's evident how the natural world evolves after a catastrophic event such as the World War II and how, in certain respects, marine life finds its way to the most hazardous places.

Artificial Features as Ocean Environments

Artificial structures such as sunken vessels, wind turbines, drilling platforms and undersea pipes can provide substitutes, compensating for some of the lost marine environment. This study shows that explosives could be equally positive – the proliferation of life on those in the Lübeck Bay is expected to be repeated elsewhere.

Between the late 1940s and 1948, 1.6m tons of arms were discarded off the German coast. Numerous of people placed them in vessels; some were deposited in specific sites, the remainder just thrown overboard during transport. This is the first time scientists have documented how marine life has adapted.

Global Examples of Ocean Adaptation

• In the US, decommissioned oil and gas structures have become coral reefs
• Submerged vessels from the first world war have become homes for creatures along the Potomac in the state of Maryland
• Tank tracks that have become home to coral off Asan in Guam

These places become even more valuable for wildlife as the seas are increasingly depleted by commercial fishing, bottom trawling and anchoring. Shipwrecks and explosive disposal locations practically act as refuges – they are not official reserves, but almost any kind of human activity is restricted, explains Vedenin. As a result a numerous of organisms that are typically scarce or decreasing, such as the cod fish, are flourishing.

Future Issues

Anywhere military conflict has occurred in the recent history, surrounding seas are often littered with weapons, explains Vedenin. Many millions of tons of explosive material rest in our marine environments.

The positions of these weapons are inadequately documented, partly because of sovereign limits, restricted military information and the reality that archives are stored in historical records. They create an detonation and safety danger, as well as danger from the ongoing leakage of poisonous compounds.

As the German government and additional nations start extracting these artifacts, scientists hope to protect the marine communities that have established around them. In the Lübeck Bay explosives are presently being removed.

We should replace these iron structures remaining from munitions with certain safer, various non-dangerous materials, like perhaps artificial reefs, says Vedenin.

He now aspires that what happens in the Bay of Lübeck establishes a precedent for substituting structures after weapon clearance in different areas – because including the most harmful armaments can become scaffolding for marine organisms.