World War II Munitions, Torpedoes and Naval Mines: How Marine Life Thrives on Discarded Armaments

In the slightly salty sea off the German coast lies a wasteland of Nazi bombs, torpedoes and naval mines. Discarded from vessels at the conclusion of the second world war and neglected, countless explosives have become matted together over the decades. They comprise a rusting carpet on the low-depth, silty seafloor of the Bay of Lübeck in the western tip of the Baltic.

Over the years, the Nazi arsenal was overlooked and neglected. A growing number of tourists traveled to the coastal areas and tranquil sea for jetskiing, kite surfing and amusement parks. Underwater, the weapons deteriorated.

We initially thought to see a lifeless zone, with no life because it was all contaminated, states the lead researcher.

When the initial researchers went investigating to see what they were doing to the marine environment, researchers anticipated finding a barren area, with no life because it was all contaminated, explains the lead researcher.

What they discovered amazed them. Vedenin remembers his colleagues reacting with shock when the underwater vehicle first sent the images back. That moment was a great moment, he says.

Numerous of marine animals had settled on the weapons, forming a renewed habitat more populous than the ocean bottom surrounding it.

This underwater metropolis was proof to the tenacity of life. It is actually surprising how much life we observe in areas that are supposed to be hazardous and risky, he explains.

More than 40 starfish had clustered on to one exposed piece of explosive material. They were dwelling on iron containers, ignition chambers and transport cases just a short distance from its explosive filling. Marine fish, crabs, sea anemones and bivalves were all discovered on the old munitions. It's similar to a reef ecosystem in terms of the quantity of fauna that was inhabiting the area, notes Vedenin.

Surprising Creature Concentration

An mean of more than 40,000 creatures were residing on every meter squared of the weapons, experts documented in their research on the finding. The nearby seabed was much poorer in life, with only eight thousand organisms on every square metre.

It is paradoxical that items that are designed to kill everything are attracting so much marine organisms, says Vedenin. You can see how the natural world adapts after a major disaster such as the second world war and how, in certain respects, life finds its way to the most hazardous places.

Man-made Features as Marine Environments

Man-made constructions such as sunken vessels, wind turbines, oil rigs and undersea pipes can offer alternatives, restoring some of the lost marine environment. This research shows that munitions could be similarly beneficial – the explosion of marine organisms on those in the Lübeck Bay is expected to be repeated in different areas.

Between the late 1940s and 1948, 1.6m tonnes of arms were discarded off the German shoreline. Countless of individuals loaded them in barges; some were dropped in designated areas, the remainder just dumped en route. This is the first time experts have documented how ocean organisms has responded.

Global Examples of Marine Adaptation

• In the United States, decommissioned oil and gas structures have turned into coral reefs
• Shipwrecks from the first world war have become environments for creatures along the Potomac River in the state of Maryland
• Tank tracks that have become home to reef-building organisms off Asan beach in Guam

These places become even more important for organisms as the seas are increasingly denuded by commercial fishing, bottom trawling and anchoring. Shipwrecks and weapons dump sites effectively serve as sanctuaries – they are not official reserves, but nearly any kind of human activity is banned, states Vedenin. Therefore a numerous of marine species that are otherwise rare or declining, such as the cod fish, are prospering.

Future Factors

Wherever armed conflict has occurred in the last century, nearby oceans are usually littered with explosives, explains Vedenin. Many millions of tonnes of volatile compounds remain in our oceans.

The positions of these munitions are poorly mapped, partially because of national borders, classified armed forces records and the reality that documents are hidden in historical records. They pose an explosion and safety hazard, as well as risk from the persistent leakage of hazardous substances.

As Germany and additional nations start removing these artifacts, scientists hope to protect the marine communities that have established nearby. In the Bay of Lübeck explosives are presently being extracted.

We should substitute these metal carcasses remaining from weapons with some more secure, some harmless materials, like possibly concrete structures, says Vedenin.

He presently hopes that what happens in the Bay of Lübeck creates a model for substituting structures after weapon clearance elsewhere – because even the most damaging explosives can become scaffolding for new life.