World War II Munitions, Torpedo Heads and Naval Mines: How Ocean Creatures Prosper on Dumped Armaments

In the slightly salty sea off the German coast sits a collection of Nazi bombs, torpedo heads and naval mines. Dumped from vessels at the conclusion of the World War II and left behind, thousands munitions have accumulated over the decades. They create a corroding blanket on the low-depth, muddy 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 sandy beaches and calm waters for water sports, kiteboarding and entertainment venues. Below the waves, the munitions deteriorated.

Some of us expected to see a desert, with no life because it was all toxic, says the lead researcher.

When the first scientists went looking to see what they were affecting to the ecosystem, researchers anticipated finding a desert, with nothing living there because it was all contaminated, says Andrey Vedenin.

What they discovered surprised them. Vedenin recounts his scientists reacting with shock when the ROV first sent the images back. This was a great moment, he notes.

Thousands of sea creatures had made their homes among the munitions, developing a renewed ecosystem denser than the ocean bottom nearby.

This marine city was evidence to the tenacity of life. Truly astonishing how much marine organisms we observe in areas that are expected to be toxic and harmful, he explains.

More than 40 starfish had clustered on to one visible fragment of TNT. They were residing on steel casings, ignition chambers and storage boxes just centimetres from its volatile core. Fish, crabs, sea anemones and bivalves were all found on the discarded explosives. You could compare it with a coral reef in terms of the amount of fauna that was there, says Vedenin.

Unexpected Population Density

An average of more than forty thousand organisms were dwelling on every square metre of the weapons, researchers wrote in their study on the discovery. The adjacent region was much less diverse, with only 8,000 creatures on every square metre.

It is paradoxical that items that are intended to destroy all life are hosting so much life, states Vedenin. One can observe how the natural world adapts after a devastating occurrence such as the World War II and how, in some way, life establishes itself to the most hazardous places.

Artificial Features as Marine Environments

Man-made features such as sunken vessels, offshore windfarms, oil rigs and undersea pipes can create substitutes, replacing some of the lost marine environment. This study reveals that explosives could be similarly beneficial – the proliferation of marine organisms on those in the Lübeck Bay is expected to be repeated elsewhere.

Between 1946 and the post-war period, 1.6m tons of weapons were disposed of off the Germany's coast. Countless of individuals placed them in boats; some were placed in allocated locations, the remainder just thrown overboard while traveling. This is the first time scientists have recorded how marine life has reacted.

Global Instances of Marine Transformation

• In the United States, decommissioned drilling platforms have turned into marine habitats
• Sunken ships from the first world war have become homes for marine life along the Potomac River in Maryland
• Tank tracks that have become environment to coral off Asan in the Pacific island

These places become even more important for wildlife as the marine environments are increasingly stripped by fishing, seafloor dredging and anchoring. Shipwrecks and explosive disposal locations effectively act as sanctuaries – they are not national parks, but almost any kind of human activity is restricted, states Vedenin. Therefore a many of organisms that are usually scarce or declining, such as the Baltic cod, are prospering.

Future Issues

Wherever armed conflict has occurred in the last century, adjacent waters are typically littered with weapons, explains Vedenin. Millions of tonnes of explosive material rest in our oceans.

The positions of these weapons are poorly mapped, partially because of international boundaries, classified armed forces records and the reality that records are hidden in old files. They create an detonation and security danger, as well as danger from the continuous release of poisonous compounds.

As Germany and additional nations begin clearing these artifacts, researchers plan to safeguard the habitats that have formed around them. In the Bay of Lübeck munitions are presently being extracted.

We should replace these iron structures remaining from munitions with certain less dangerous, some harmless structures, like possibly man-made habitats, states Vedenin.

He currently aspires that what happens in Lübeck sets a precedent for replacing structures after explosive extraction in different areas – because even the most damaging armaments can become foundation for ocean ecosystems.