Nazi Bombs, Torpedo Heads and Naval Mines: How Ocean Creatures Flourishes on Dumped Weapons

In the brackish waters off the German coast rests a wasteland of World War II explosives, torpedo heads and mines. Dumped from vessels at the end of the second world war and neglected, thousands weapons have fused into clusters over the decades. They form a decaying carpet on the low-depth, silty seafloor of the Bay of Lübeck in the western part of the Baltic Sea.

Over the decades, the wartime weapons was ignored and neglected. A growing number of tourists traveled to the sandy beaches and tranquil sea for jetskiing, kiteboarding and amusement parks. Underwater, the weapons decayed.

Some of us thought to see a lifeless zone, with nothing living there because it was all toxic, explains Andrey Vedenin.

When the team went investigating to see what they were doing to the ecosystem, some of us expected to see a desert, with nothing living there because it was all contaminated, explains the lead researcher.

What they discovered amazed them. Vedenin recounts his scientists exclaiming in amazement when the underwater vehicle first relayed pictures. It was a remarkable experience, he recalls.

Countless of ocean life had made their homes on the explosives, developing a regenerated ecosystem richer than the ocean bottom around it.

This marine city was testament to the persistence of life. It is actually astonishing how much marine organisms we observe in areas that are considered dangerous and risky, he says.

In excess of 40 starfish had gathered on to one exposed fragment of explosive material. They were living on steel casings, detonator compartments and storage boxes just a short distance from its volatile core. Marine fish, crustaceans, anemones and mussels were all discovered on the discarded explosives. It resembles a reef ecosystem in terms of the abundance of animal life that was inhabiting the area, says Vedenin.

Remarkable Creature Concentration

An mean of more than 40,000 organisms were dwelling on every square metre of the explosives, scientists documented in their paper on the discovery. The adjacent region was much less diverse, with only eight thousand creatures on every square metre.

It is surprising that things that are designed to kill all life are hosting so much life, says Vedenin. One can observe how nature adapts after a major disaster such as the World War II and how, in some way, life establishes itself to the most dangerous areas.

Man-made Features as Marine Habitats

Man-made constructions such as shipwrecks, offshore windfarms, oil rigs and pipelines can offer replacements, replacing some of the removed marine environment. This investigation reveals that explosives could be equally positive – the proliferation of life on those in the Lübeck Bay is expected to be duplicated elsewhere.

Between the late 1940s and 1948, 1.6m tons of munitions were discarded off the German shoreline. Thousands of workers loaded them in vessels; some were placed in allocated sites, others just discarded at sea while traveling. This is the initial instance researchers have documented how ocean organisms has reacted.

Global Examples of Ocean Adaptation

• In the US, retired drilling platforms have transformed into marine habitats
• Sunken ships from the first world war have become homes for creatures along the Potomac River in Maryland
• Military vehicle parts that have become habitat to coral off Asan in Guam

These places become even more crucial for marine life as the seas are increasingly denuded by commercial fishing, bottom trawling and anchoring. Shipwrecks and munitions areas effectively function as refuges – they are not official reserves, but almost any kind of human activity is banned, explains Vedenin. As a result a lot of organisms that are typically rare or declining, such as the Baltic cod, are prospering.

Future Issues

Anywhere military conflict has occurred in the recent history, adjacent waters are often strewn with weapons, explains Vedenin. Many millions of tonnes of explosive material rest in our seas.

The sites of these weapons are poorly mapped, partly because of international boundaries, secret armed forces records and the situation that archives are buried in old files. They present an explosion and safety risk, as well as danger from the ongoing leakage of toxic chemicals.

As Germany and additional nations begin clearing these artifacts, scientists hope to safeguard the habitats that have formed around them. In the Bay of Lübeck munitions are currently being extracted.

We should replace these metal carcasses remaining from munitions with some safer, some safe materials, like possibly concrete structures, states Vedenin.

He now wishes that what occurs in Lübeck creates a model for substituting structures after weapon clearance elsewhere – because also the most destructive weaponry can become framework for ocean ecosystems.