The Estonian sea coast is diverse and the types of shores that occur here often vary after a short distance The coast is considered to be the coastal zone and the adjacent land and sea – coastal lands and coastal sea. The landward border of the coast is the imaginary line connecting the bottoms of the bays, while the seaward border is an imaginary line connecting the peaks of the peninsulas. If...

The night of ancient lights held in August is a common custom on all the beaches of the Baltic Sea The word ‘meri’ (‘sea’) has been used in Estonian for ten thousand years or more. The sea separates and the sea connects – regional differences in folk culture and lifestyle have developed along the water’s edge. Coastal people have been dependent on the changing sea, which has shaped their daily...

All the peoples of the Baltic Sea are concerned about the state of the Baltic Sea As the Baltic Sea’s ability to offset the negative pressures from human activities and other factors is rather limited, all peoples living along the Baltic Sea are concerned about the state of the ecological status of the Baltic Sea. That is why the Baltic Sea has long been one of the areas with most intensive...

The biggest problem in the Baltic Sea is anthropogenic eutrophication, or enrichment with nutrients The Baltic Sea is one of the seas most influenced by human activity in the world. The Baltic Sea basin (the area from where water flows into the sea), four times the size of the sea itself, is home to more than 85 million people. Therefore, the pollution load on the sea is quite high. Given the...

Due to the young geological age of the Baltic Sea, no endemic animal species have emerged here The Baltic Sea mixes typical freshwater and marine conditions, so there are organisms of both marine and freshwater origin. Due to these special conditions, the number of species in the Baltic Sea is lower than in a sea with typical salinity. Many of the species here live under constant stress caused by...

The migration of today’s freshwater species to Estonian waters began about 2,500 years ago Geologically speaking, the Baltic Sea is a very young water body. The formation of the Baltic Sea is related to the warming of the climate at the end of the ice age, due to which the extensive ice sheet covering the area quickly melted. The Baltic Sea was born of the meltwater of ice sheets. At first, the...

The Baltic Sea is the second largest inland sea in the world A sea is a part of the world ocean that is more or less separated from the oceans or other seas by continents, islands, or bottom uplands. The seas are divided into: the inter-island seas (a part of the world ocean surrounded by archipelagos), the inland seas (a sea connected to the ocean or other seas by straits), and the peripheral...

The biota of Lake Võrtsjärv is quite rich in species – 35 species of fish have been found here Lake Võrtsjärv is the second largest lake in Estonia. It has an area of about 270 km 2, a length of about 35 km and a width of 15 km in the north, an average depth of 2.8 m, and a maximum depth of 6.0 m. The catchment basin of Lake Võrtsjärv covers 3,380 km 2 [1]. Lake Võrtsjärv is a flow-through lake...

The flora and fauna of Lake Peipsi are rich in species Lake Peipsi is one of the largest lakes in Europe. The lake has an area of about 3,543 km 2, a length of about 135 km, a width of 48 km, an average depth of 8 m, and a maximum depth of 17.6 m [1]. The lake is divided into Lake Peipsi (Suurjärv), Lake Pihkva, and Lake Lämmijärv. The basin of Lake Peipsi covers 47,802 km 2 – it is larger than...

The Water Act defines a water protection zone on the shores of water bodies, while the Nature Conservation Act defines a building exclusion zone and a limited management zone Inland waters are a natural resource that are important as valuable habitats, animal routes, but also for recreation and the protection of the aquatic environment. In order to preserve the natural condition and diversity of...