Nazi Munitions, Torpedoes and Naval Mines: How Marine Life Flourishes on Discarded Weapons

In the brackish sea off the Germany's shoreline rests a graveyard of World War II explosives, torpedoes and mines. Discarded from boats at the end of the World War II and forgotten about, numerous weapons have accumulated over the years. They create a decaying layer on the low-depth, silty ocean floor of the Lübeck Bay in the western part of the Baltic Sea.

Over the decades, the explosive stockpile was overlooked and forgotten about. A growing number of visitors traveled to the coastal areas and tranquil sea for water sports, kiteboarding and entertainment venues. Underwater, the weapons deteriorated.

We initially expected to see a lifeless zone, with no life because it was all toxic, says Andrey Vedenin.

When the initial researchers went searching to see what they were doing to the marine environment, some of us expected to see a barren area, with no life because it was all contaminated, says a scientist.

What they observed amazed them. Vedenin recounts his scientists shouting with surprise when the submersible first relayed pictures. This was a remarkable experience, he says.

Countless of ocean life had settled amid the munitions, forming a renewed marine community more populous than the seabed surrounding it.

This ocean community was testament to the persistence of life. Indeed remarkable how much life we observe in places that are expected to be hazardous and risky, he says.

More than 40 sea stars had piled on to one visible chunk of explosive material. They were living on metal shells, fuse pockets and transport cases just centimetres from its dangerous content. Fish, crabs, anemones and mussels were all observed on the historic weapons. You could compare it with a coral reef in terms of the abundance of creatures that was inhabiting the area, states Vedenin.

Remarkable Creature Concentration

An average of more than 40,000 organisms were living on every square metre of the munitions, researchers reported in their paper on the discovery. The nearby seabed was much poorer in life, with only 8,000 individuals on every square metre.

It is paradoxical that items that are designed to destroy everything are attracting so much life, explains Vedenin. One can observe how nature evolves after a catastrophic event such as the World War II and how, in certain respects, life finds its way to the most risky areas.

Artificial Features as Ocean Habitats

Man-made features such as shipwrecks, offshore windfarms, oil rigs and pipelines can create alternatives, compensating for some of the removed habitat. This study shows that weapons could be equally positive – the explosion of marine organisms on those in the Lübeck Bay is probable to be duplicated in different areas.

Between 1946 and 1948, 1.6m tons of arms were discarded off the Germany's coast. Countless of people loaded them in boats; some were placed in allocated areas, the remainder just discarded at sea en route. This is the first time experts have studied how marine life has reacted.

Global Examples of Ocean Transformation

• In the US, decommissioned oil and gas structures have transformed into coral reefs
• Shipwrecks from the World War I have become homes for creatures along the Potomac in the state of Maryland
• Military vehicle parts that have become habitat to coral off Asan in Guam

These areas become even more important for marine life as the oceans are increasingly stripped by fishing, bottom trawling and anchoring. Shipwrecks and explosive disposal locations effectively act as refuges – they are not national parks, but almost any kind of anthropogenic disturbance is banned, says Vedenin. As a result a numerous of marine species that are usually scarce or diminishing, such as the Baltic cod, are thriving.

Coming Considerations

Anywhere armed conflict has taken place in the past 100 years, surrounding seas are usually containing munitions, says Vedenin. Millions of tons of volatile compounds rest in our marine environments.

The sites of these weapons are poorly documented, partially because of international boundaries, classified military information and the situation that records are hidden in historic archives. They present an explosion and security risk, as well as threat from the ongoing leakage of poisonous compounds.

As Germany and different states start extracting these artifacts, researchers plan to preserve the habitats that have developed around them. In the Lübeck Bay weapons are already being extracted.

It would be wise to replace these metal carcasses left from munitions with some safer, various non-dangerous materials, like perhaps concrete structures, says Vedenin.

He presently hopes that what occurs in the Bay of Lübeck creates a precedent for replacing structures after munitions removal elsewhere – because even the most damaging explosives can become framework for marine organisms.