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The Baltic
A Young Sea Facing Big Problems
ASU
ETM428 – International Environmental Management
Natalie Geiger
6/6/2012
The Baltic: A Young Sea Facing Big Problems
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Introduction
The Baltic Sea is one of the most unique bodies of water in the world. Considering it is
only 10,000 years old, the Baltic is young biologically, geographically, and in terms of human
beings. Not only does its distinctive shape and geographical boundaries make it fascinating, but
the water in the sea itself, stands out amongst most others. Unfortunately, the past century
has proven that, although the Baltic is an unconventional marine ecosystem, it cannot
withstand the many environmental tribulations caused by humans. While there have been
many advances in restoring the health of the Baltic Sea, there is still far to go.
1.0: A Sea of its Own
One of the most interesting and visible characteristics of the Baltic Sea is that it is almost
entirely enclosed by land, “only through the bottle neck of the narrow and shallow Danish
straits is the Baltic connected to the rest of the marine world” (Anderson et al., 2010). There
are nine nations that surround the Baltic: Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Latvia, Poland,
Russia, Lithuania, and Sweden, though its catchment area includes Belarus, the Czech Republic,
Norway, Slovakia, and Ukraine (Knuuttila et al., 2011).
The Baltic Sea is a semi-enclosed sea of about 415 000 km2. Proceeding from the
northern end, it includes the Bothnian Bay and the Bothnian Sea. At the
southern end of the Bothnian Sea, the island of Aland divides the Aland Sea from
the Archipelago Sea. The Gulf of Finland is the eastern arm of the Baltic Sea. The
central portion of the Sea, known as the Baltic Proper, includes the Eastern and
Western Gotland Seas. To the east and south are the Gulf of Riga, and the Gulf of
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Gdansk. Moving to the west are the Bornholm and Arkona basins, followed by
the Sound, the Belt Sea and the Kattegat (The Baltic Sea Joint Comprehensive
Environmental Action Programme, 2010).
There are about 16 million people that live near the coastline of the Baltic and roughly 85
million living in the Baltic’s catchment area.
1.1: Brackish Waters
The Baltic Sea is “one of the world’s largest and most isolate bodies of brackish water”
(Anderson et al., 2010). Brackish water is water that is composed of both seawater as well as
freshwater, and “has more salinity than freshwater but not as much as seawater” (World
Wildlife Foundation, 2012). The Baltic receives a large input of freshwater from the many rivers
that it is connected to and receives all of its salt water from the Atlantic Ocean. Due to the fact
that the Baltic is fed by not only seawater but freshwater, the result is stratification.
Stratification is when “the heavier saline water from the North Sea sinks to form a bottom
layer, while the fresher water diluted by rainfall and river water forms a layer on the surface”
(Baltic Sea, 2010). Since the water is stratified, that means there is limited mixing; the
freshwater and the seawater have a difficult time mixing because the seawater is so dense
compared to the freshwater. The outcome of stratification and limited mixing: hypoxic and
anoxic zones. Hypoxic zones have very little dissolved oxygen, whereas anoxic zones lack
dissolved oxygen entirely, making it very difficult for marine life to survive. The only time the
bottom layer is replenished with oxygen is during a saline pulse.
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Although the Baltic Sea has a positive water balance, water normally also flows
through the Danish straits into the Baltic Sea. This water, however, is a mixture
of brackish water from the Baltic Sea and seawater from the North Sea, because
the long, narrow and shallow Danish straits slow down the flow of water towards
the Baltic Sea. Occasionally, however, oxygen rich, dense and salty North Sea
surface water reaches the Baltic Sea. This occurrence is preceded by lower sea
levels in the Southern Baltic Sea and a heavy storm of long duration from the
west or south-west in Denmark (Alenius & Lumiaro).
Saline pulses are unpredictable and infrequent, and do not necessarily reach to the most
northerly and easterly parts of the Baltic , leaving “a residence time for full exchange of its
water mass estimated at 25-30 years” (Andrushaitis & Thulin, 2003).
1.2: Animal and Plant Life
The Baltic Sea is “characterized by having a lower biodiversity of plant and animal
species than in more saline waters. The brackish water of the Baltic is too salty for most
freshwater species and too fresh for most marine species” (Andrushaitis & Thulin, 2003). Despite
these facts, the sea is “still full of many fascinating and even exotic creatures” not only in the
water, but in the air as well (Telkanranta, 2006). The shores of and the sky above the Baltic are
home to many different species of migrating birds. Swans, long-tailed ducks, white-tailed
eagles, eiders, and scoters are just a few that can be seen. Another creature that can be found
in the Baltic Sea is the highly intelligent porpoise. Most of the “Baltic Sea’s porpoises now live in
Danish Waters, although they are sometimes seen off the German, Polish and Swedish coasts –
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and occasionally even further north. There are thought to be about 600 porpoises in the Baltic
today” (Telkanranta, 2006).
Another species of large marine mammals that calls the Baltic home are seals. There are
“three species of seals [living in the Baltic Sea]: the grey seal, the ringed seal, and the harbor
seal” (Telkanranta, 2006). Grey seals can “be seen anywhere in the Baltic, but they are most
common in more northerly waters. The harbor seal lives in the Danish Straits and around the
coasts of southern Sweden. The two largest populations of the Baltic ringed seal live in the
Bothnian Bay and in the Gulf of Riga” (Telkanranta, 2006).
A number of other animal species are located in the Baltic: blue mussels, turbot, trout,
flounder, cockles, pike, herring, sand goby, and bullhead to name a few. The location of each
different species depends highly on the salinity content of the water. Freshwater species can
be found in the more northern and eastern waters of the Baltic, where freshwater is much
more abundant, than in the western waters where the salinity of the water is much greater.
The Baltic Sea is not only full of a variety of animal species, but a large number of plant
species as well. One of the key plant species in the Baltic is the eelgrass called bladderwrack.
Bladderwrack “bushes provide shelter for a myriad of small animals, and just one square meter
of the fronds of a healthy bush may harbor 20-30 visible species, plus many more microscopic
creatures” (Telkanranta, 2006). There are also a large number of algae present in the Baltic,
including both green algae near the surface of the water, and red algae deeper in the water.
2.0: Human Pressures Threatening the Baltic
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Although there are many different contributing factors to the Baltic Sea’s health, the
four main pressures greatly affecting the sea because of human interference are
eutrophication, hazardous substances, maritime activities, and biodiversity (Baltic Sea Action
Plan, 2010).
2.1: Excessive Nutrients
Eutrophication is a “major problem in the Baltic Sea, caused by excessive inputs of
nitrogen and phosphorous which mainly originate from inadequately treated sewage,
agricultural run-off and airborne emissions from shipping and combustion processes” (Baltic
Sea Action Plan, 2010). There are over 200 rivers that flow into the Baltic, the largest being the
“Neva, Vistula, Duagava, Njemen/Nemunas, and Odra/Oder, supply[ing] most of the
freshwater, and thereby also most of the nutrients to the system” (Lundberg, 2005). In the
“year 2000, about 28,000 tons of phosphorus and 660,000 tons of nitrogen were brought to the
Baltic by rivers, with the total nutrient load to the Baltic Sea [being approximately] 1,249,000
tons nitrogen and 56,000 tons phosphorus” (Lundberg, 2005). One of the most “prominent and
direct effects [of eutrophication] is an increase in phytoplankton productivity and biomass,
often ‘illustrated’ as chlorophyll-a concentrations” (Andersen et al., 2009).
Over-stimulation of algal growth leads to a complex suite of interconnected
biological and chemical responses that can severely degrade water quality and
threaten human health and sustainability of living resources in the coastal zone.
As algal biomass builds during blooms it forms aggregates that sink and fuel
bacterial growth in bottom waters and sediments. Bacterial metabolism
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consumes oxygen. If the rates of aeration of water by mixing are slower than
bacterial metabolism, then bottom waters become hypoxic (low in oxygen) or
anoxic (devoid of oxygen), creating conditions stressful or even lethal for marine
invertebrates and fish (Cloern, Hogan & Krantz, 2007).
2.2: Toxic Contaminants
Hazardous substances that are released into the sea can remain there for very long
periods of time, and can make their way up the food-web. These substances “include
contaminants such as dioxins, PCBs, TBT, PFOs, and heavy metals” (Baltic Sea Action Plan,
2010).
Hazardous substances cause adverse effects in ecosystems, including health and
reproductive problems in animals, especially top predators. Certain
contaminants may be hazardous because of their effects on hormone and
immune systems, as well as their toxicity, persistence and bio-accumulating
properties. Some fish caught in the Baltic Sea, particularly herring and salmon,
contain concentrations of hazardous substances that exceed maximum allowable
levels for foodstuffs as defined by the EU (Baltic Sea Action Plan, 2010).
Deformities in fish have also been documented due to the release of toxic chemicals into the
Baltic Sea. For example, pike with deformed jaws have been found in the effluent area of a pulp
and paper mill using chlorine for bleaching (Andrushaitis & Thulin, 2003).
2.3: Maritime Activities
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With its connection to many European countries, the Baltic Sea is “one of the most
intensely trafficked marine areas in the world” (Baltic Sea Action Plan, 2010). Navigation can be
difficult for ships in the Baltic, not only because of its narrow straits and shallow waters, but
also due to the fact that much of the sea is covered by ice during the winter. Therefore, the risk
of shipping accidents is inevitable. The “main environmental effects of shipping and other
activities at sea include air pollution, illegally deliberate and accidental discharges of oil,
hazardous substances and other wastes, and the unintentional introduction of invasive alien
organisms via ships’ ballast water or hulls” (Baltic Sea Action Plan, 2010). Each of these affects
both the quality of water, as well as the plethora of life in the Baltic.
2.4: Negative Effects on Biodiversity
The biodiversity in the Baltic Sea is greatly impacted by human activities. Exploitation of
the multiple resources that the Baltic offers, as well as a disregard for the consequences, has
significantly hindered the sea’s biodiversity.
Eutrophication and hazardous substances have strong impacts on biodiversity.
Some species are directly threatened by overfishing or the destruction of their
habitats by human activities such as dredging and construction along shores.
Intensified shipping adds to existing environmental stress by potentially
introducing invasive non-native species, minor oil spills, and the increasing
probability of major oil spills that could be highly destructive for many species
and habitats. Together with the predicted impacts of global warming, all of these
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pressures increasingly threaten the biodiversity of the Baltic Sea (Baltic Sea
Action Plan, 2010).
3.0: The Conventions of 1974 and 1992
It was quickly recognized that the Baltic Sea was one of a kind, and therefore needed to
be managed differently. For the first time, “all the sources of pollution around an entire sea
were made subject to a single convention, signed in 1974 by the then seven Baltic Coastal
States [and] entered into force on May 3rd, 1980” (About HELCOM, 2012). A new Convention, in
“light of political changes and developments in international environmental and maritime law”,
was signed by all the states bordering the Baltic, and the European community, in 1992 and was
entered into force in 2000 (The Helsinki Convention, 2008).
3.1: HELCOM
The Helsinki Commission (HELCOM), whose “main goal is to protect the marine
environment of the Baltic Sea from all sources of pollution, and to restore and safeguard its
ecological balance” is the governing body of the Convention (About HELCOM, 2012). HELCOM’s
Contracting Parties are the nine countries that surround the Baltic Sea, and the European
community. HELCOM meets annually to “adopt recommendations for the protection of the
marine environment, which the governments of the Contracting Parties must act on in their
respective national programs and legislation” (About HELCOM, 2012).
There are several principles that HELCOM prides itself on adhering to: responsibility, the
precautionary principle, best environmental practices and best available technologies, “polluter
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pays”, monitoring, and avoiding risks. Though there are several environmental issues within
and around the Baltic Sea, HELCOM’s top priorities are eutrophication, hazardous substances,
land transport sector, maritime transport sector, environmental impacts of fishery
management and practices, protect and conservation of marine and coastal biodiversity, and
the implementation of the Joint Comprehensive Environmental Action Program and HELCOM
Recommendations.
3.2: Successes and Persistent Problems
Since its beginning, the “Helsinki Commission has been working to improve the Baltic
marine environment, largely through some 200 HELCOM Recommendations” (About HELCOM,
2012). Some examples of successes they have experienced within this time period are “a 2025% overall reduction in the emissions of oxygen-consuming substances from the 132 originally
identified hot spots since the early 1990s, with about 50 hot spots deleted from the list; lower
discharges of organic pollutants and nutrients from point-sources; national regulations banning
hazardous substances like PCB an DDT; the recovery of seal and white-tailed eagle populations;
a major international plan to combat marine pollution with active cooperation involving all the
Contracting Parties through HELCOM” (About HELCOM, 2012).
Although the Helsinki Commission has made great strides in improving the overall Baltic
Sea ecosystem, there is still work to be done. Due to the recovery of the economy in the Baltic
Sea area there was “a strong increase of emissions from ship traffic, with 2012 surpassing the
emission levels of shipping before the recession” (Baltic Sea ship emissions in 2010, 2011).
Within the last decade, “the deposition of reduced nitrogen to two sub-basins was higher by 3-
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5%”, compared to 1995 (Baltic Sea ship emissions in 2010, 2011). In terms of hazardous
substances, they are still maintaining a persistent presence in the Baltic.
Despite the considerable reductions in the inputs of some hazardous substance
to the Baltic Sea, the concentrations of heavy metals and organic pollutants in
sea water are still several times higher in the Baltic Sea compared to waters of
the North Atlantic. Concentrations of contaminants in fish vary according to
substance, species and location. Although there is no consistent trend in mercury
concentrations, the concentrations of lead and PCBs have decreased significantly
as a result of measures taken to reduce discharges of these contaminants to the
environment. Recent levels of cadmium in herring are not significantly lower
compared to the concentrations measured at the beginning of the 1980s,
despite measures taken to reduce discharges of cadmium to the environment
(HELCOM Indicator Fact Sheets for 2011, 2012).
4.0: What the Future Holds
It is obvious that most of the detriment that the Baltic Sea has suffered within the past
century is due to human causes. Therefore, it is necessary for a shared vision and commitment
among those countries within the catchment area of the Baltic to strengthen its health. Only by
spreading awareness and understanding of the task ahead will change undoubtedly be
inevitable. Not only will change affect the marine life and quality of the Baltic Sea ecosystem,
but also the quality of life for the millions of people who call the land around the Baltic their
home.
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Works Cited
Andersen et al. Helsinki Commission, Baltic Marine Environment Protection Commission.
(2010). Ecosystem Health of the Baltic Sea (No. 122). Retrieved from Helsinki
Commission website:
http://www.helcom.fi/stc/files/Publications/Proceedings/bsep122.pdf
Andersen et al. Helsinki Commission, Baltic Marine Environment Protection Commission.
(2009). Eutrophication in the Baltic Sea – An integrated thematic assessment of the
effects of nutrient enrichment and eutrophication in the Baltic Sea region (No. 115B).
Retrieved from
http://meeting.helcom.fi/c/document_library/get_file?p_l_id=79889&folderId=377779
&name=DLFE-36818.pdf
Alenius, P., & Lumiaro, R. (n.d.). Baltic Sea saline pulses. Retrieved from
http://www.itameriportaali.fi/en/tietoa/yleiskuvaus/en_GB/suolapulssit/
Andrushaitis, A., & Thulin, J. (2003, June). The Baltic Sea: Its past, present, and future. Religion,
Science & the Environment Symposium V Retrieved from
http://www.rsesymposia.org/files.php?catid=76&pcatid=46
Baltic Sea. (2010, October 29). Retrieved from
http://www.ymparisto.fi/default.asp?node=18323&lan=en
Cloern, J., Hogan, M., & Krantz, T. (2007). Eutrophication. In E. Duffy (Ed.), Encyclopedia of earth
Washington D.C.: National Council for Science and the Environment. Retrieved from
http://www.eoearth.org/article/Eutrophication
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Helsinki Commission. (2012). About HELCOM. Retrieved from
http://www.helcom.fi/helcom/en_GB/aboutus/
Helsinki Commission. (2010). Baltic Sea Action Plan. Retrieved from
http://www.helcom.fi/BSAP/ActionPlan/en_GB/SegmentSummary/
Helsinki Commission. (2011). Baltic Sea ship emissions in 2010. Retrieved from
http://www.helcom.fi/BSAP_assessment/ifs/ifs2011/en_GB/ShipEmissions/
Helsinki Commission. (2012). HELCOM Indicator Fact Sheets for 2011. Retrieved from
http://www.helcom.fi/BSAP_assessment/ifs/ifs2011/en_GB/cover/
Helsinki Commission. (2008). The Helsinki Convention. Retrieved from
http://www.helcom.fi/Convention/en_GB/convention/
Knuuttila et al. Helsinki Commission, the Fifth Baltic Sea Pollution Load Compilation (PLC-5).
(2011). Retrieved from
http://www.helcom.fi/stc/files/Publications/Proceedings/BSEP128.pdf
Lundberg, C. (2005). Eutrophication in the Baltic Sea. (Master's thesis, Abo Akademi University,
Abo, Finland) Retrieved from
http://www.mare.su.se/dokument/Cecilia_Lundberg_abstract.pdf
The Baltic: A Young Sea Facing Big Problems
Telkanranta, H. (2006). The Baltic Sea: Discovering the sea of life. Helsinki, Finland: Baltic
Marine Environment Protection Commission - Helsinki Commission (HELCOM).
Retrieved from
http://www.helcom.fi/stc/files/Publications/OtherPublications/TheBalticSea2006.pdf
The Baltic Sea Joint Comprehensive Environmental Action Programme, (2010). HELCOM.
Helsinki, 1993. (Balt. Sea Environ. Proc. No. 48), pp. 2-1 - 3-20.
http://www.baltic.vtt.fi/demo/balful.html
World Wildlife Foundation. Baltic Sea. June 4, 2012.
http://wwf.panda.org/what_we_do/where_we_work/baltic/
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