The Baltic Sea- nowadays and future

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 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: round goby Eriocheir sinensins crayfish balanus 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. 10

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