Nazi Munitions, Torpedo Heads and Naval Mines: How Marine Life Flourishes on Dumped Armaments

In the brackish waters off the German coast rests a collection of Nazi bombs, torpedoes and naval mines. Dumped from vessels at the end of the World War II and left behind, countless munitions have fused into clusters over the years. They form a corroding layer on the low-depth, muddy ocean floor of the Bay of Lübeck in the western part of the Baltic Sea.

Over the years, the Nazi arsenal was ignored and neglected. A growing number of visitors traveled to the coastal areas and calm waters for jetskiing, kite surfing and amusement parks. Below the waves, the munitions deteriorated.

Researchers expected to see a desert, with nothing living there because it was all poisoned, says the lead researcher.

When the first scientists went searching to see what they were affecting to the ecosystem, some of us expected to see a lifeless zone, with no life because it was all poisoned, states the lead researcher.

What they discovered surprised them. Vedenin remembers his team members shouting with surprise when the submersible first transmitted footage. It was a memorable occasion, he says.

Numerous of marine animals had made their homes among the explosives, creating a revitalized marine community denser than the ocean bottom surrounding it.

This ocean community was evidence to the tenacity of marine life. It is actually remarkable how much marine organisms we discover in places that are supposed to be dangerous and dangerous, he states.

Over 40 starfish had gathered on to one exposed fragment of TNT. They were dwelling on iron containers, detonator compartments and storage boxes just centimetres from its dangerous content. Marine fish, crabs, anemones and bivalves were all found on the discarded explosives. It resembles a marine reef in terms of the quantity of creatures that was there, states Vedenin.

Unexpected Creature Concentration

An mean of more than forty thousand organisms were dwelling on every square metre of the weapons, scientists documented in their research on the finding. The adjacent region was much sparser, with only 8,000 organisms on every square metre.

It is surprising that items that are intended to eliminate everything are hosting so much life, states Vedenin. One can observe how the natural world adjusts after a catastrophic event such as the World War II and how, in some way, life finds its way to the most hazardous locations.

Man-made Structures as Ocean Habitats

Man-made features such as sunken vessels, wind turbines, drilling platforms and pipelines can provide alternatives, restoring some of the lost marine environment. This study reveals that explosives could be comparably beneficial – the explosion of life on those in the Lübeck Bay is likely to be repeated in other locations.

Between 1946 and the post-war period, 1.6 million tons of weapons were disposed of off the German shoreline. Thousands of individuals transported them in vessels; some were placed in specific locations, the remainder just thrown overboard en route. This is the initial instance researchers have documented how ocean organisms has reacted.

Global Instances of Marine Transformation

• In the US, retired drilling platforms have transformed into coral reefs
• Shipwrecks from the World War I have become homes for wildlife along the Potomac in Maryland
• Military vehicle parts that have become environment to coral off Asan in Guam

These locations become even more important for organisms as the marine environments are increasingly depleted by commercial fishing, seafloor dredging and boat mooring. Sunken ships and munitions areas effectively act as protected areas – they are not national parks, but nearly any kind of human activity is banned, states Vedenin. As a result a lot of organisms that are usually uncommon or diminishing, such as the Baltic cod, are flourishing.

Future Issues

Wherever military conflict has happened in the last century, surrounding seas are usually strewn with munitions, states Vedenin. Many millions of tons of explosive material lie in our seas.

The sites of these weapons are insufficiently recorded, partially because of sovereign limits, classified military information and the reality that records are hidden in historical records. They create an explosion and safety risk, as well as danger from the persistent emission of toxic chemicals.

As Germany and other countries embark on removing these artifacts, scientists aim to preserve the habitats that have developed in their vicinity. In the Bay of Lübeck munitions are already being removed.

We should replace these metal carcasses remaining from weapons with certain safer, some safe objects, like perhaps artificial reefs, states Vedenin.

He currently aspires that what occurs in the Bay of Lübeck sets a model for substituting habitats after munitions removal in different areas – because including the most damaging explosives can become scaffolding for new life.