Nazi Bombs, Torpedo Heads and Mines: The Way Marine Life Thrives on Dumped Weapons

In the brackish sea off the Germany's coast lies a wasteland of Nazi bombs, torpedoes and mines. Thrown off barges at the end of the World War II and left behind, numerous weapons have accumulated over the decades. They create a corroding blanket on the low-depth, silty seafloor of the Lübeck Bay in the western tip of the Baltic Sea.

Over the decades, the explosive stockpile was ignored and forgotten about. A increasing amount of visitors flocked to the coastal areas and calm waters for water sports, kite surfing and entertainment venues. Below the waves, the weapons deteriorated.

Some of us anticipated to see a barren area, with no organisms because it was all poisoned, explains the lead researcher.

When the first scientists went searching to see what they were doing to the marine environment, some of us anticipated finding a desert, with nothing living there because it was all poisoned, explains Andrey Vedenin.

What they found surprised them. Vedenin recalls his scientists exclaiming in amazement when the underwater vehicle first sent the images back. It was a great moment, he says.

Numerous of ocean life had settled on the weapons, developing a renewed marine community more populous than the seabed nearby.

This ocean community was evidence to the tenacity of marine life. It is actually surprising how much marine organisms we observe in locations that are considered hazardous and dangerous, he explains.

In excess of 40 sea stars had gathered on to one exposed chunk of TNT. They were residing on metal shells, detonator compartments and storage boxes just a short distance from its dangerous content. Marine fish, crustaceans, sea anemones and bivalves were all discovered on the historic weapons. It resembles a reef ecosystem in terms of the amount of fauna that was there, states Vedenin.

Surprising Creature Concentration

An average of more than forty thousand animals were residing on every square metre of the explosives, experts documented in their paper on the observation. The nearby seabed was much sparser, with only 8,000 organisms on every square metre.

It is paradoxical that things that are meant to kill all life are hosting so much marine organisms, explains Vedenin. One can observe how nature evolves after a devastating occurrence such as the World War II and how, in certain respects, life establishes itself to the most risky places.

Artificial Structures as Ocean Habitats

Man-made structures such as shipwrecks, offshore windfarms, oil rigs and undersea pipes can create replacements, compensating for some of the lost habitat. This research demonstrates that explosives could be equally advantageous – the proliferation of marine organisms on those in the Bay of Lübeck is expected to be found in other locations.

Between the late 1940s and 1948, 1.6 million tonnes of arms were disposed of off the German shoreline. Thousands of workers transported them in barges; some were placed in allocated sites, others just dumped during transport. This is the initial instance researchers have documented how marine life has adapted.

Global Instances of Ocean Adaptation

• In the United States, decommissioned drilling platforms have transformed into marine habitats
• Shipwrecks from the World War I have become habitats for marine life along the Potomac River in the state of Maryland
• Tank tracks that have become environment to reef-building organisms off Asan beach in Guam

These places become even more crucial for marine life as the seas are increasingly denuded by commercial fishing, bottom trawling and boat mooring. Sunken ships and munitions areas effectively act as sanctuaries – they are not national parks, but almost any kind of human activity is restricted, explains Vedenin. As a result a numerous of species that are otherwise rare or decreasing, such as the cod fish, are flourishing.

Coming Issues

Anywhere military conflict has happened in the past 100 years, surrounding seas are typically containing weapons, says Vedenin. Many millions of tons of volatile compounds rest in our oceans.

The sites of these explosives are inadequately recorded, partially because of sovereign limits, secret defense data and the fact that archives are buried in historical records. They create an explosion and security danger, as well as risk from the ongoing emission of hazardous substances.

As the German government and additional nations embark on removing these relics, researchers aim to safeguard the ecosystems that have formed nearby. In the Lübeck Bay explosives are presently being cleared.

It would be wise to substitute these metal carcasses left from munitions with certain less dangerous, various harmless structures, like perhaps concrete structures, says Vedenin.

He now wishes that what happens in the Bay of Lübeck establishes a precedent for replacing habitats after explosive extraction in different areas – because even the most destructive weaponry can become foundation for new life.