Nazi Bombs, Torpedoes and Mines: The Way Marine Life Prosper on Abandoned Armaments

In the brackish sea off the German coast rests a wasteland of Nazi bombs, torpedoes and mines. Thrown off barges at the conclusion of the second world war and forgotten about, numerous weapons have fused into clusters over the years. They comprise a decaying layer on the shallow, muddy seafloor of the Bay of Lübeck in the western tip of the Baltic.

Over the decades, the explosive stockpile was overlooked and forgotten about. A growing number of visitors came to the sandy beaches and calm waters for jetskiing, kiteboarding and entertainment venues. Below the waves, the munitions deteriorated.

Researchers expected to see a barren area, with no life because it was all toxic, states a scientist.

When the team went looking to see what they were affecting to the ecosystem, researchers expected to see a barren area, with nothing living there because it was all toxic, explains the lead researcher.

What they observed astonished them. Vedenin recalls his scientists shouting with surprise when the underwater vehicle first sent the images back. That moment was a great moment, he recalls.

Countless of ocean life had settled amid the weapons, developing a renewed ecosystem richer than the ocean bottom around it.

This underwater metropolis was testament to the resilience of life. Truly remarkable how much marine organisms we discover in areas that are considered dangerous and harmful, he states.

Over 40 sea stars had gathered on to one exposed chunk of explosive material. They were living on metal shells, ignition chambers and storage boxes just centimetres from its dangerous content. Fish, crabs, anemones and bivalves were all found on the historic weapons. It's similar to a marine reef in terms of the abundance of creatures that was there, notes Vedenin.

Unexpected Creature Concentration

An average of more than forty thousand animals were dwelling on every square metre of the weapons, experts documented in their paper on the observation. The nearby seabed was much less diverse, with only eight thousand creatures on every meter squared.

It is ironic that things that are designed to kill everything are drawing so much life, states Vedenin. You can see how nature evolves after a major disaster such as the second world war and how, in some way, life returns to the most dangerous areas.

Man-made Structures as Ocean Environments

Artificial structures such as sunken vessels, offshore windfarms, drilling platforms and pipelines can offer replacements, restoring some of the lost marine environment. This investigation demonstrates that explosives could be comparably advantageous – the explosion of life on those in the Lübeck Bay is likely to be repeated in different areas.

Between the late 1940s and the post-war period, 1.6 million tonnes of munitions were discarded off the German shoreline. Numerous of people loaded them in vessels; a portion were dropped in allocated sites, others just dumped en route. This is the first time researchers have recorded how ocean organisms has reacted.

Global Examples of Marine Transformation

• In the United States, decommissioned energy installations have turned into coral reefs
• Submerged vessels from the World War I have become environments for wildlife along the Potomac in the state of Maryland
• Military vehicle parts that have become habitat to reef-building organisms off Asan in the Pacific island

These areas become even more crucial for organisms as the oceans are increasingly stripped by commercial fishing, seafloor dredging and boat mooring. Shipwrecks and munitions areas practically serve as refuges – they are not official reserves, but nearly any kind of human activity is restricted, states Vedenin. As a result a many of organisms that are otherwise uncommon or decreasing, such as the Baltic cod, are flourishing.

Coming Issues

Wherever military conflict has taken place in the past 100 years, surrounding seas are typically strewn with munitions, says Vedenin. Many millions of tonnes of explosive material remain in our seas.

The sites of these weapons are insufficiently documented, in part because of national borders, secret military information and the situation that records are hidden in historical records. They present an detonation and safety hazard, as well as danger from the continuous release of hazardous substances.

As Germany and different states start clearing these remains, experts aim to protect the habitats that have developed nearby. In the Lübeck Bay weapons are already being removed.

It would be wise to substitute these iron structures remaining from munitions with certain more secure, some safe objects, like perhaps man-made habitats, states Vedenin.

He now aspires that what happens in the Bay of Lübeck creates a precedent for replacing structures after weapon clearance in other locations – because even the most damaging explosives can become foundation for marine organisms.