Nazi Munitions, Torpedoes and Mines: The Way Marine Life Flourishes on Abandoned Armaments

In the brackish waters off the Germany's coast rests a wasteland of Nazi bombs, torpedoes and naval mines. Dumped from vessels at the conclusion of the second world war and left behind, numerous munitions have accumulated over the decades. They create a corroding carpet on the low-depth, silty seafloor of the Lübeck Bay in the western part of the Baltic.

Over the years, the wartime weapons was overlooked and neglected. A growing number of tourists flocked to the coastal areas and tranquil sea for jetskiing, kite surfing and entertainment venues. Underwater, the weapons decayed.

Some of us thought to see a barren area, with no life because it was all poisoned, says a scientist.

When the first scientists went investigating to see what they were affecting to the marine environment, the team thought they would find a barren area, with no life because it was all toxic, says the lead researcher.

What they found amazed them. Vedenin remembers his scientists reacting with shock when the underwater vehicle first relayed pictures. This was a great moment, he says.

Numerous of ocean life had established habitats among the munitions, creating a regenerated habitat richer than the seabed around it.

This ocean community was evidence to the resilience of marine life. It is actually surprising how much life we find in locations that are supposed to be dangerous and dangerous, he says.

In excess of 40 starfish had gathered on to one accessible piece of TNT. They were residing on iron containers, ignition chambers and storage boxes just centimetres from its volatile core. Marine fish, crustaceans, anemones and bivalves were all found on the historic weapons. It's similar to a marine reef in terms of the amount of animal life that was present, notes Vedenin.

Remarkable Creature Concentration

An average of more than 40,000 animals were living on every square metre of the munitions, scientists reported in their study on the observation. The adjacent region was much poorer in life, with only eight thousand creatures on every square metre.

It is surprising that objects that are designed to destroy everything are hosting so much life, states Vedenin. You can see how the natural world adjusts after a devastating occurrence such as the second world war and how, in certain respects, life returns to the most hazardous places.

Man-made Structures as Ocean Environments

Artificial constructions such as sunken vessels, wind turbines, drilling platforms and undersea pipes can provide alternatives, restoring some of the lost marine environment. This research shows that explosives could be similarly beneficial – the bloom of marine organisms on those in the Lübeck Bay is expected to be repeated elsewhere.

Between the late 1940s and the post-war period, 1.6m tonnes of munitions were dumped off the German coast. Countless of workers transported them in vessels; a portion were dropped in allocated areas, others just thrown overboard en route. This is the first time scientists have recorded how ocean organisms has responded.

Global Examples of Ocean Transformation

• In the US, retired drilling platforms have transformed into reef ecosystems
• Submerged vessels from the World War I have become homes for marine life along the Potomac in the state of Maryland
• Tank tracks that have become home to coral off Asan beach in the Pacific island

These places become even more valuable for wildlife as the oceans are increasingly stripped by commercial fishing, seafloor dredging and boat mooring. Sunken ships and weapons dump sites essentially act as refuges – they are not official reserves, but virtually any kind of human activity is restricted, says Vedenin. Therefore a lot of marine species that are usually rare or declining, such as the Baltic cod, are prospering.

Coming Issues

Wherever warfare has taken place in the past 100 years, surrounding seas are often littered with weapons, states Vedenin. Many millions of tons of explosive material rest in our marine environments.

The positions of these munitions are poorly mapped, in part because of sovereign limits, restricted armed forces records and the reality that documents are hidden in historic archives. They present an detonation and safety danger, as well as danger from the persistent leakage of poisonous compounds.

As the German government and different states embark on clearing these artifacts, scientists plan to safeguard the habitats that have established in their vicinity. In the Bay of Lübeck weapons are currently being extracted.

It would be wise to substitute these iron structures originating from weapons with some safer, some harmless materials, like maybe concrete structures, says Vedenin.

He presently wishes that what happens in Lübeck sets a example for substituting habitats after munitions removal elsewhere – because also the most destructive explosives can become scaffolding for new life.