Download The Baltic

The Baltic- geography
 The Baltic Sea- shallow waters of the
north part of Europe (separates
Germany, Poland, Russia, Lithuana,
Latvia, Estonia, Finland, Switzerland
and Denmark). One of the youngest
seas. It’s area is 415 266 km² and
average depth is 52m. Salinity is 2–
12‰. Baltic neighbours with North
Sea. Baltic has low temperatures ( 0-2
°C winter, 9-22°C summer). In spite of
unfourable climate, the Baltic
surprises us with interesting set of
animals and plants.
The Baltic fauna
Because of nasty climate the Baltic Sea has not got a lot of living animals ( like warmer sea
ecosistems) but there are some interesting and strange ones. For example:
- sea lamprey
- acipenser oxyrinchus
- northern pike
- water sponges
- anemones
- baltic shrimp
- jellyfish
- seals (harbor seal, ringed seal, grey seal)
- porpoise
And many others…
The Baltic flora
 The Baltic flora is poor. Most of Baltic plants belong to seaweeds and algaes.
- euroasian watermilfoil
- clasping-leaf pondweed
- ruppia maritima
- ulva lactuca
- cladophora
- Fucus vesiculous
- Delesseria sanguinea
5 endangered citizens of the Baltic Sea
1)
2)
3)
Porpoise- common in the world, critically endangered in the Baltic because of net
fishing. Now we can hear about actions to safe its population in the Baltic.
Harbor seal, grey seal and ringed seal- these lovely animals common in the world but
also endangared in the Baltic because of popular hunts for its fur and fat in the past.
There have been some successful breeding projects on Hel.
Acipenser oxyrinchus - probably extinct (unseen since 1996). It was a target of mass
hunts because of tasty meat and spawn. Now people try to restitute this species on
the Polish part of the Baltic Sea.
Invasive species in the Baltic
 Alien species have been brought to the Baltic ecosystem from many parts of
the world. New animals rival with native inhabitants of the Baltic.
Examples of invasive animals in the Baltic:
1) round goby
2) Eriocheir sinensins
3) crayfish
4) balanus
5) carp
„Sea tourists”
Sometimes the Baltic is visited by species from the North Sea and the Atlantic
Ocean. Unfortunately some of these tourists cannot survive in Baltic climate
for a long time. It is reported that the Baltic has been visited by: strange and
giant mola-mola, dangerous 3,5m shark (porbeagle), beautiful swordfish,
starfish, brittle stars and etc… Another interesting species which has probably
settled in the Baltic is anglerfish.
The Baltic Sea in 2020
 Probable changes in the Baltic sea in 2020 include:
 Geography and climat will be a little changed but it will not be so important
 There will be a lot of new programs of protecting sea fauna and flora
 Deposits of palladium will be discovered
 Tourism and recreation will develop
 New jobs will be offered
Geography
 After numerous weather anomalies in 2014-2015 most things will come back to
present state
 Seaside cliffs will be sharpened and dunes will be displaced
 More steps will be taken by governments to protect cliffs and dunes
Nature protection
 Thanks by WWF and European Union the Baltic Sea will become a better place.
 Modern sealariums will increase seal population by 10% .
 A program of the porpoise breeding will be developed.
 Invasies species will be regularly removed from the Baltic Sea
 Water will be cleaner thanks to wastewater treatment plants.
Palladium in the Baltic depth
Resources of palladium - a chemical element, malleable silvery-white precious
metal will prove to be true. Drilling platforms will be built to exploit
palladium from the bottom of the sea
Tourism and recreation
 Thanks to clean water and wide sandy beaches more and more tourists will
spend their holidays on the Baltic sea
New job offers
 Thanks to the increasing development of tourism new workers will be needed
in sea resorts.
 New aquaparks and sealariums will also offer interesting jobs.
The end
 By Michał Rogacki