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

In the brackish sea off the Germany's shoreline rests a collection of Nazi bombs, torpedo heads and naval mines. Dumped from boats at the end of the second world war and left behind, thousands weapons have become matted together over the decades. They comprise a corroding carpet on the shallow, muddy seafloor of the Bay of Lübeck in the western part of the Baltic.

Over the decades, the wartime weapons was ignored and forgotten about. A growing number of tourists flocked to the sandy beaches and tranquil sea for water sports, kiteboarding and entertainment venues. Underwater, the munitions eroded.

Researchers thought to see a desert, with nothing living there because it was all contaminated, explains Andrey Vedenin.

When the team went looking to see what they were affecting to the ecosystem, some of us thought they would find a desert, with no life because it was all poisoned, explains the lead researcher.

What they found surprised them. Vedenin recounts his scientists shouting with surprise when the submersible first sent the images back. This was a remarkable experience, he says.

Numerous of marine animals had established habitats amid the munitions, developing a renewed ecosystem denser than the ocean bottom nearby.

This ocean community was evidence to the tenacity of life. Truly astonishing how much marine organisms we discover in locations that are considered toxic and dangerous, he states.

In excess of 40 starfish had piled on to one exposed fragment of TNT. They were dwelling on iron containers, ignition chambers and transport cases just a short distance from its volatile core. Marine fish, crabs, sea anemones and bivalves were all discovered on the discarded explosives. It resembles a coral reef in terms of the quantity of fauna that was there, states Vedenin.

Unexpected Population Density

An mean of more than 40,000 animals were dwelling on every square metre of the munitions, researchers wrote in their research on the finding. The adjacent region was much poorer in life, with only eight thousand individuals on every square metre.

It is ironic that things that are meant to destroy all life are attracting so much life, says Vedenin. One can observe how nature adapts after a catastrophic event such as the second world war and how, in certain respects, marine life establishes itself to the most risky areas.

Artificial Features as Marine Habitats

Artificial constructions such as sunken vessels, offshore windfarms, drilling platforms and pipelines can provide alternatives, replacing some of the destroyed habitat. This research shows that munitions could be similarly advantageous – the explosion of marine organisms on those in the Lübeck Bay is likely to be found elsewhere.

Between the late 1940s and 1948, 1.6 million tons of munitions were dumped off the German shoreline. Countless of people transported them in boats; a portion were dropped in allocated locations, the remainder just thrown overboard en route. This is the first time researchers have documented how marine life has responded.

Global Instances of Marine Transformation

• In the United States, retired energy installations have become coral reefs
• Sunken ships from the World War I have become environments for creatures along the Potomac in the state of Maryland
• Tank tracks that have become home to reef-building organisms off Asan beach in Guam

These locations become even more crucial for organisms as the seas are increasingly depleted by fishing, seafloor dredging and anchoring. Shipwrecks and weapons dump sites practically act as refuges – they are not national parks, but virtually any kind of anthropogenic disturbance is prohibited, states Vedenin. As a result a many of organisms that are otherwise rare or declining, such as the Baltic cod, are thriving.

Future Considerations

Anywhere warfare has happened in the last century, surrounding seas are typically strewn with weapons, states Vedenin. Many millions of tonnes of explosive material lie in our seas.

The positions of these munitions are poorly documented, partly because of sovereign limits, classified armed forces records and the reality that documents are buried in historical records. They present an explosion and safety risk, as well as risk from the continuous release of poisonous compounds.

As the German government and additional nations begin removing these artifacts, scientists hope to protect the habitats that have established nearby. In the Bay of Lübeck explosives are currently being removed.

Researchers recommend replace these iron structures left from weapons with some safer, various harmless structures, like possibly man-made habitats, says Vedenin.

He now hopes that what occurs in the Bay of Lübeck sets a model for replacing habitats after munitions removal in different areas – because including the most damaging explosives can become foundation for new life.