Animal Protection in Europe COMENIUS PROJECT PGVM “IVAN P.PAVLOV’’ STARA ZAGORA

Protected aquatic animals in Bulgaria Daria Dimova 11a

The Black Sea The Black Sea is an inland body of water, which is part of the Mediterranean basin and is connected to it via the Sea of Marmara. It is locked between Europe and Asia and is surrounded by Bulgaria, Georgia, Romania, Russia, Turkey and Ukraine. About 16 million people inhabit the coastal area The Black Sea is almost completely isolated from the world oceans though its depth is considerable in places, up to 2212 m, while its catchment area covers over 2 million square kilometers. The only connection to the world oceans is through the winding Bosphorus Straits, a narrow 35-kilometer channel, only 40 m deep in places. The Kerch Straits in the north provides the connection with the smaller Azov Sea.

Owing to its small size, the tidal range of the Black Sea is not more than 8 cm, meaning that river estuaries tend to take the form of shallow, brackish lakes or“limans”. Especially along the northern and western shores, the coastal zone has extensive wetland ecosystems which form transitional zones connecting the vast terrestrial drainage basin and the Black Sea itself. These wetlands are dynamic and highly productive ecosystems that support a very high diversity of flora and fauna, especially of organisms that can survive being wet for long or intermittent periods. The transition zone extends out to the limit of submerged marine vegetation (from 6 to 20 mdepth). Because of their transitional and dynamic nature, wetland classification around the Black Sea coast is a highly complex subject.

At the last count, in the mid-1990s, over 3 770 species had been identified in the Black Sea, including 1 619 fungi, algae and higher plants; 1 983 invertebrates; 168 fish; and four native mammals. Of these species, 126 are recognised as threatened – in various stages of decline or inactual danger of extinction - including 10 plants; 38 fish; 22 birds, and all the mammals. Within the Black Sea itself, living communities are not evenly distributed: some parts are more important than others. Biologically poor areas include the deeper waters which border the hydrogen sulphide zone.The north-western shelf, on the other hand, has relatively low salinity thanks to the inflow of the Danube River, and supports a particularly interesting community of species including so-called Pontic relicts, such as gobies, that originate from the lake era. Similarly, a small section of the southern shelf close to the Bosporus has a high salinity thanks to inflow of Mediterranean water and provides suitable living conditions for a wide variety of Mediterranean species, including sea stars and sea urchins.

The Institute of Oceanology (Varna, Bulgaria), and NIMRD (Constanta, Romania), with assistance from the BSC and EUCC have recently completed a BBI – MATRA project on Development of an Indicative Ecologically Coherent Network of sub-tidal Marine Protected Areas which identified a number of proposed marine Sites of Community Interest for inclusion in the EU Natura 2000 network. In Bulgaria, 14 sites have been identified as potential coastal and MPAs with a total area of 611 km2. These sites are still undergoing official approval procedures in discussion with the European Commission.

Proposed Natura 2000 coastal sites / Marine Protected Areas in Bulgaria

Last finding new exotic species in the Black Sea 2009 - Saduria (Mesidotea) entomon 2009 - fam. Sagartidae 2006 – Alexandrium ostenfeldii

Is the number of the jellyfish increasing as the Black Sea is warming up? Climate change causes expansion in the range of most species. Jellyfish are among them.

Pond turtle Appears throughout the country

Dolphin Appears in Black Sea

Dalmatian pelican Appears in reserve "Silver"

White seal Appears in Black Sea

Bibliography http://www.encyclopedia.bg/enc1/demo/pril/200063.html http://www.blacksea-commission.org/_publ-BSDiagnosticReport2010.asp