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Ilustracja przedstawia brzeg morza oraz zbliżające się fale. Nad morzem lata pięć mew. Zbliża się zachód słońca.

Ilustracja przedstawia brzeg morza oraz zbliżające się fale. Nad morzem lata pięć mew. Zbliża się zachód słońca.

Make a list of items connected to the Baltic Sea.

The natural environment of the Baltic Sea

The Baltic Sea is considered to be a mediterranean sea, because it is surrounded by land on all sides. The only connection with the open sea is via several narrow channels, known as the Danish Straits, to the North Sea.

There are five different types of coast in the Baltic Sea:

• sandspit – waves and sea currents create long, sandy banks (spitsspitspits), which cut off bays, lagoons and coastal lakes from the open sea; these can be found in the southern Baltic Sea;

• cliff – a high bank is constantly undercut by waves, causing the cliff to recede; these mainly occur in the southern shores of the Baltic Sea;

• skerry – characterised by thousands of small islands (skerriesskerryskerries), which come about as a result of partial flooding of glacial hills; the Åland Islands are an example of this;

• fjards (fjärd)fjard (fjärd)fjards (fjärd) – a coast containing bays with quite high cliffs (but not as high as a fjordfiordfjord); they are formed by flooding of glacial valleys in uplands that are not excessively deep; they can be found across the whole of the northern Baltic, often together with skerries;

• inletsinlet (föhrd)inlets(inlet (föhrd)(föhrdinlet (föhrd)föhrd)inlet (föhrd)) – these are created from flooding of convex areas with post‑glacial accumulations interspersed by numerous sub‑glacial gulleys that flow from the land to the sea; this type of coast is characteristic of Denmark.

The waters of the Baltic Sea are not as saline as those in other seas.

The average salinity of the Baltic Sea is around 7%. The highest salinity in the Baltic Sea is in the west, near the Danish Straits – on account of the inflowing salty waters of the North Sea. The lowest recorded salinity is in the north of the Gulf of Bothnia and the east of the Gulf of Finland -- because of the cold climate and long distance from the Danish Straits.

There is not a wide variety of sea life in the Baltic Sea. It is possible to find algae, less often flowering plants. Fish are the dominant animal species, such as herring, cod, sprat, flounder, mackerel, flatfish, salmon and eel. Occasionally large marine mammals can be found – porpoises and seals. The most common birds are terns, gulls and mute swans. There are also jellyfish, annelids (worms), small shellfish and crustaceans.

Development of the Baltic Sea

The maritime economy is the use for economic purposes of the sea and its associated natural resources. There are several main branches here:

• maritime transport,

• fishing,

• the power industry,

• extraction of mineral resources,

• shipbuilding,

• tourism.

Pollution in the Baltic Sea

The waters of the Baltic Sea are mainly polluted in coastal areas. Cities, ports and industries have developed on the coast, from where sewage often flows directly into the sea. Many contaminants also come form the rivers that flow into the Baltic Sea. This applies especially to rivers flowing from the densely populated south and east – the Vistula, Oder, Nemunas and Neva. They transport, amongst other things, town and industrial sewage, as well as artificial fertilisers and pesticides (chemical products to protect plants) washed out from fields. The excesses of all of these subtances increases eutrophicationeutrophicationeutrophication of the waters of the Baltic -- food enrichment. On the high seas, waste is often dumped from ships into the water. There are also accidents that result in fuel or other liquids leaking into the water. Another danger for the waters of the Baltic are the many wrecks and remnants of the Second WOrld War that remain on the seabed. Also, as elsewhere, air pollution is transmitted by the wind and can end up at sea. In addition, the fact that the Baltic Sea is clearly separated from the open ocean restricts movement of water through the Danish Straits.

The direct impact of pollution on the Baltic Sea is the degradation of the natural environment.

Summary

• The further north you go, the lower the temperature in the waters of the Baltic Sea. In winter, the Gulfs of Bothnia and Finland both freeze.

• The Baltic Sea is used by people, amongst other things, for transport, fishing, tourism and energy.

Keywords

Baltic Sea, salinity of the Baltic Sea, types of coastline

Glossary