Nazi Explosives, Torpedoes and Naval Mines: How Ocean Creatures Prosper on Abandoned Weapons

In the slightly salty sea off the German shoreline sits a collection of World War II explosives, torpedo heads and mines. Thrown off barges at the conclusion of the second world war and neglected, numerous munitions have accumulated over the decades. They create a corroding carpet on the shallow, muddy ocean floor of the Bay of Lübeck in the western tip of the Baltic.

Over the decades, the explosive stockpile was overlooked and neglected. A increasing amount of visitors flocked to the coastal areas and tranquil sea for water sports, kiteboarding and amusement parks. Beneath the surface, the weapons decayed.

Researchers thought to see a desert, with nothing living there because it was all poisoned, states Andrey Vedenin.

When the first scientists went searching to see what they were doing to the marine environment, researchers anticipated finding a barren area, with no life because it was all contaminated, says Andrey Vedenin.

What they observed amazed them. Vedenin remembers his scientists shouting with surprise when the underwater vehicle first relayed pictures. That moment was a memorable occasion, he recalls.

Countless of sea creatures had established habitats on the explosives, forming a revitalized marine community richer than the ocean bottom surrounding it.

This marine city was testament to the persistence of marine life. Truly surprising how much marine organisms we observe in areas that are expected to be hazardous and risky, he says.

More than 40 sea stars had piled on to one visible piece of TNT. They were dwelling on metal shells, ignition chambers and carrying containers just a short distance from its volatile core. Marine fish, crabs, anemones and mussels were all discovered on the old munitions. It resembles a reef ecosystem in terms of the amount of creatures that was inhabiting the area, says Vedenin.

Unexpected Creature Concentration

An average of more than forty thousand animals were living on every meter squared of the weapons, scientists documented in their paper on the observation. The nearby seabed was much less diverse, with only 8,000 individuals on every meter squared.

It is ironic that objects that are intended to destroy everything are drawing so much life, explains Vedenin. It's evident how the natural world evolves after a devastating occurrence such as the second world war and how, in certain respects, marine life returns to the most risky areas.

Artificial Structures as Ocean Environments

Artificial structures such as shipwrecks, offshore windfarms, oil rigs and pipelines can offer replacements, compensating for some of the destroyed marine environment. This study shows that explosives could be similarly beneficial – the explosion of marine organisms on those in the Bay of Lübeck is expected to be repeated elsewhere.

Between the late 1940s and 1948, 1.6m tonnes of weapons were discarded off the Germany's coast. Thousands of individuals loaded them in vessels; some were dropped in allocated locations, the remainder just dumped en route. This is the initial instance scientists have studied how marine life has responded.

Worldwide Examples of Ocean Transformation

• In the US, retired drilling platforms have transformed into coral reefs
• Sunken ships from the first world war have become environments for wildlife along the Potomac in Maryland
• Tank tracks that have become habitat to coral off Asan beach in the Pacific island

These locations become even more valuable for wildlife as the marine environments are increasingly denuded by fishing, bottom trawling and boat mooring. Shipwrecks and munitions areas essentially serve as sanctuaries – they are not official reserves, but nearly any kind of anthropogenic disturbance is restricted, says Vedenin. Consequently a numerous of marine species that are usually rare or declining, such as the cod fish, are flourishing.

Future Considerations

Anywhere warfare has happened in the past 100 years, adjacent waters are typically containing munitions, states Vedenin. Many millions of tons of volatile compounds remain in our oceans.

The positions of these explosives are poorly documented, in part because of national borders, secret armed forces records and the situation that records are hidden in historic archives. They present an detonation and security danger, as well as risk from the persistent leakage of poisonous compounds.

As the German government and other countries embark on clearing these relics, researchers aim to safeguard the ecosystems that have established around them. In the Lübeck Bay explosives are presently being removed.

It would be wise to replace these steel remains left from weapons with certain less dangerous, various safe structures, like perhaps artificial reefs, suggests Vedenin.

He currently hopes that what occurs in the Bay of Lübeck creates a model for replacing material after weapon clearance in other locations – because including the most harmful explosives can become scaffolding for new life.