Nazi Bombs, Torpedoes and Naval Mines: How Marine Life Flourishes on Abandoned Weapons

In the brackish sea off the Germany's coast rests a collection of Nazi bombs, torpedo heads and mines. Thrown off vessels at the end of the World War II and forgotten about, countless weapons have fused into clusters over the decades. They comprise a corroding carpet on the low-depth, muddy seafloor of the Lübeck Bay in the western tip of the Baltic Sea.

Over the years, the Nazi arsenal was overlooked and forgotten about. A growing number of tourists flocked to the sandy beaches and tranquil sea for water sports, kite surfing and entertainment venues. Below the waves, the weapons eroded.

Researchers expected to see a desert, with no organisms because it was all contaminated, says the lead researcher.

When the first scientists went investigating to see what they were doing to the marine environment, researchers anticipated finding a lifeless zone, with no organisms because it was all contaminated, says Andrey Vedenin.

What they observed amazed them. Vedenin recounts his colleagues reacting with shock when the submersible first transmitted footage. This was a memorable occasion, he says.

Numerous of sea creatures had established habitats on the weapons, forming a renewed ecosystem richer than the seabed surrounding it.

This marine city was testament to the tenacity of life. Truly surprising how much marine organisms we find in places that are supposed to be toxic and risky, he states.

More than 40 starfish had piled on to one accessible fragment of TNT. They were dwelling on iron containers, detonator compartments and storage boxes just centimetres from its volatile core. Marine fish, crustaceans, sea anemones and mussels were all discovered on the historic weapons. It's similar to a coral reef in terms of the quantity of animal life that was there, notes Vedenin.

Unexpected Creature Concentration

An mean of more than 40,000 organisms were residing on every square metre of the explosives, scientists reported in their research on the finding. The surrounding area was much sparser, with only eight thousand creatures on every square metre.

It is paradoxical that items that are designed to eliminate everything are drawing so much marine organisms, explains Vedenin. One can observe how the natural world adjusts after a catastrophic event such as the World War II and how, in certain respects, marine life establishes itself to the most dangerous areas.

Artificial Structures as Marine Habitats

Man-made features such as sunken vessels, wind turbines, drilling platforms and undersea pipes can offer substitutes, restoring some of the lost habitat. This study demonstrates that weapons could be equally positive – the explosion of life on those in the Lübeck Bay is likely to be found elsewhere.

Between 1946 and the post-war period, 1.6m tonnes of munitions were dumped off the Germany's shoreline. Countless of people placed them in barges; some were deposited in specific sites, others just dumped while traveling. This is the first time researchers have documented how ocean organisms has reacted.

Worldwide Instances of Ocean Transformation

• In the US, decommissioned energy installations have become marine habitats
• Sunken ships from the first world war have become homes for wildlife along the Potomac River in Maryland
• Tank tracks that have become home to coral off Asan beach in the Pacific island

These locations become even more crucial for organisms as the oceans are increasingly depleted by commercial fishing, bottom trawling and anchoring. Sunken ships and explosive disposal locations essentially act as protected areas – they are not national parks, but virtually any kind of human activity is restricted, states Vedenin. As a result a numerous of organisms that are otherwise rare or declining, such as the cod fish, are thriving.

Coming Factors

Wherever military conflict has taken place in the recent history, adjacent waters are typically littered with munitions, explains Vedenin. Millions of tonnes of volatile compounds rest in our seas.

The locations of these weapons are poorly documented, partially because of sovereign limits, classified defense data and the situation that records are stored in historic archives. They present an detonation and security danger, as well as risk from the continuous emission of toxic chemicals.

As Germany and additional nations begin clearing these remains, researchers aim to preserve the ecosystems that have formed in their vicinity. In the Bay of Lübeck explosives are already being extracted.

Researchers recommend replace these steel remains originating from munitions with some less dangerous, various safe structures, like maybe concrete structures, suggests Vedenin.

He now hopes that what transpires in Lübeck establishes a model for substituting structures after weapon clearance in other locations – because also the most harmful weaponry can become framework for new life.