Nazi Bombs, Torpedo Heads and Naval Mines: How Ocean Creatures Flourishes on Discarded Armaments

In the brackish sea off the German shoreline sits a graveyard of Nazi bombs, torpedoes and naval mines. Thrown off vessels at the conclusion of the World War II and neglected, thousands weapons have fused into clusters over the decades. They comprise a rusting carpet on the low-depth, silty ocean floor of the Bay of Lübeck in the western part of the Baltic.

Over the decades, the Nazi arsenal was ignored and neglected. A growing number of tourists traveled to the coastal areas and calm waters for jetskiing, kiteboarding and entertainment venues. Below the waves, the munitions eroded.

We initially anticipated to see a barren area, with no life because it was all poisoned, states Andrey Vedenin.

When the initial researchers went looking to see what they were doing to the marine environment, some of us anticipated finding a barren area, with nothing living there because it was all contaminated, states Andrey Vedenin.

What they found astonished them. Vedenin recalls his colleagues shouting with surprise when the ROV first transmitted footage. This was a remarkable experience, he recalls.

Thousands of sea creatures had settled amid the munitions, creating a regenerated marine community richer than the ocean bottom nearby.

This ocean community was testament to the persistence of marine life. Indeed remarkable how much life we observe in locations that are considered dangerous and harmful, he explains.

In excess of 40 starfish had clustered on to one exposed piece of explosive material. They were living on iron containers, detonator compartments and transport cases just centimetres from its volatile core. Fish, crustaceans, anemones and mussels were all discovered on the historic weapons. It's similar to a reef ecosystem in terms of the amount of fauna that was inhabiting the area, says Vedenin.

Remarkable Creature Concentration

An mean of more than 40,000 creatures were residing on every square metre of the weapons, scientists wrote in their paper on the finding. The adjacent region was much less diverse, with only eight thousand creatures on every meter squared.

It is paradoxical that things that are intended to destroy everything are drawing so much marine organisms, states Vedenin. You can see how nature evolves after a devastating occurrence such as the second world war and how, in certain respects, marine life establishes itself to the most risky areas.

Artificial Structures as Ocean Habitats

Man-made structures such as sunken vessels, offshore windfarms, oil rigs and undersea pipes can provide alternatives, compensating for some of the lost marine environment. This research reveals that weapons could be similarly beneficial – the bloom of marine organisms on those in the Lübeck Bay is probable to be found in other locations.

Between the late 1940s and the post-war period, 1.6 million tonnes of arms were disposed of off the Germany's shoreline. Numerous of people transported them in boats; a portion were dropped in specific locations, the remainder just discarded at sea while traveling. This is the initial instance researchers have documented how ocean organisms has adapted.

Global Instances of Ocean Transformation

• In the United States, decommissioned energy installations have turned into reef ecosystems
• Sunken ships from the World War I have become environments for wildlife along the Potomac River in the state of Maryland
• Military vehicle parts that have become home to reef-building organisms off Asan in the Pacific island

These places become even more important for marine life as the oceans are increasingly depleted by fishing, bottom trawling and boat mooring. Shipwrecks and weapons dump sites effectively serve as sanctuaries – they are not national parks, but almost any kind of anthropogenic disturbance is prohibited, states Vedenin. Consequently a lot of organisms that are otherwise rare or declining, such as the cod fish, are thriving.

Coming Factors

Anywhere armed conflict has occurred in the past 100 years, nearby oceans are usually strewn with explosives, says Vedenin. Millions of tonnes of dangerous substances lie in our marine environments.

The locations of these weapons are poorly recorded, in part because of sovereign limits, restricted military information and the reality that documents are buried in historic archives. They pose an explosion and security danger, as well as danger from the persistent emission of poisonous compounds.

As the German government and other countries start clearing these remains, experts aim to protect the ecosystems that have established in their vicinity. In the Lübeck Bay weapons are presently being extracted.

We should replace these iron structures left from munitions with certain less dangerous, some non-dangerous materials, like possibly man-made habitats, suggests Vedenin.

He currently wishes that what transpires in the Bay of Lübeck establishes a precedent for replacing structures after weapon clearance in different areas – because also the most damaging weaponry can become foundation for new life.